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VOLUME:118 No.19, DECEMBER 17, 2020

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$200M CUTBACK Treasury takes axe to six months spending as $1.5bn debt bill looms

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE government will make $200m of cutbacks, it was revealed yesterday - as repayments of almost $1.5bn in debt become due in the next 12 months.

Some $75.8m in unplanned COVID-19 assistance and previous lockdowns have forced the government to target $200m in extra spending cuts over the next six months.

Senator Kwasi Thompson, the newly-appointed minister of state for finance, told the Senate that the Minnis administration is aiming to slash $100m apiece from both its capital and recurrent (fixed cost) spending after 2020-2021 first quarter revenues came in $68m below projections while spending soared.

Explaining that the cuts were essential to keep the Government on track for a

record $1.327bn deficit, as forecast in the May Budget, Mr Thompson pledged: “For the remainder of this fiscal year and over the immediate term, the Government will seek to maintain its current budget deficit target of no more than $1.3bn.

“To facilitate this against the expected decline in revenue, and to meet our fiscal targets without having to incur additional debt, the Government has tasked agencies to scale back recurrent expenditure by $100m and capital expenditure by $100m between now and June.”

Meanwhile, acting financial secretary Marlon Johnson said yesterday he “foresees no challenge” over the Government meeting almost $1.5bn in debt principal repayments coming due within the next 12 months.

FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS

BAHAMASAIR AND WSC SIGNAL CHARGE RISES

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net TARIFF rises for customers of Bahamasair and the Water and Sewerage Corporation were signalled yesterday.

Senator Kwasi Thompson, the newly-appointed Minister of State for Finance, revealed that Bahamasair passengers would be the first to feel the pain of tax and fee increases sparked by COVID-19’s economic devastation.

Mr Thompson revealed the government has approved the Bahamasair

board’s “recommendation to undertake, in short order, the necessary fare adjustments and operational changes that will eliminate the need for reliance on government subsidies over time”.

Mr Thompson said similar demands, which will likely involve price/tariff increases are also being made of the Water & Sewerage Corporation, which Mr Thompson said has not enjoyed a fee increase for more than 20 years dating back to the last century.

Web shop patrons also face a gaming tax on winnings.

FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS

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‘US PLAYING DIRTY WITH SPY CLAIMS’

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE Chinese Embassy in The Bahamas said reports that China has spied on Americans via Caribbean phone networks are false and another attempt by the United States to sow discord between China and Caribbean countries.

The claims of China’s spying prompted a strong response from the US Embassy in Nassau yesterday.

SEE PAGE SEVEN

FRONT PORCH

PETER WHO?

A NATION FOR SALE ANOTHER GENERATION OF SCANDAL

PAGE EIGHT

PETER Nygard shaking hands with Dr Perry Gomez as Shane Gibson watches on in a video posted showing him meeting PLP Cabinet ministers - with the caption naming Dr Gomez as Minister of Health. The video also saw Mr Nygard meeting other PLP ministers, such as V Alfred Gray, Ken Dorsett and Jerome Fitzgerald. The PLP and FNM have been making public statements about Mr Nygard and his political links. See page three for the full story.

BASDEN BACKS WEATHER INNOVATORS

By TANYA SMITHCARTWRIGHT tsmith-cartwright@ tribunemedia.net

TREVOR Basden, director of the Department of Meteorology, is excited about the possibility of his department’s usage of the proposed Aviation, Climate and Severe Weather Network, a system that can catapult the country’s aviation and meteorological

departments into cutting edge performances.

On Monday, The Tribune unveiled the network with it declaring: “$472 Million First-of-a-Kind Aviation, Climate, Marine, Ocean and Severe Weather Network, Gets Cabinet Green Light.”

Yesterday, The Tribune spoke with Met Office head, Mr Basden, who feels this network will be a move

in the right direction once it is set up in his department.

“This Aviation, Climate and Severe Weather Network would allow the Department of Meteorology to move towards impact based forecasting,” he said.

“For example, if you have a tropical cyclone moving and based on how the models and the information SEE PAGE FIVE

‘FISHING BILL ISN’T FAIR PLAY’

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

FORMER Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Peter Turnquest has criticised as discriminatory a provision in a new Bill that would prevent foreigners from engaging in commercial fishing in The Bahamas.

Mr Turnquest’s comment in the House of Assembly yesterday followed the contribution of Marco City MP SEE PAGE FOUR

STATESIDE

BAHA MAR OPENS DOORS TODAY BAHA Mar reopens today to local and international travelers, marking whag the resort destination says is its “steadfast commitment to a strong future for The Bahamas and its hospitality and tourism industry”.

The resort has been shuttered since March,

due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The resort reopens with the return of 1,800

associates and heightened safety and health measures in place, hotel officials said.

Baha Mar’s phased reopening begins with the opening of Grand Hyatt Baha Mar today, followed by the return of Rosewood Baha Mar and SLS Baha Mar in 2021.

SEE PAGE FIVE

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

SENSELESS DEATH LIT A FIRE THAT WON’T GO OUT

SEE PAGE NINE

PAGE 2, Thursday, December 17, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

THE SCENE last night after the fatal crash.

Photos: Vandyke Hepburn

Child dies in traffic accident

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net A YOUNG child is dead following a traffic accident in Grand Bahama yesterday, a police official reported.

Assistant Superintendent of Police Alphonso Pinder said sometime around 4.30pm, police received a report of an accident on Grand Bahama Highway in the area of the University of the Bahamas, involving a GMC Econo SUV, occupied by five people.

The vehicle was traveling east on Grand Bahama Highway, when it lost control and veered off the northern side of the road and overturned.

ASP Pinder confirmed that a child died at the scene. Police are still in the initial stages of the investigation, he said.

“We do believe they are residents of East End; we know she (the victim) is at a young and tender age, but we cannot confirm the age.”

He urged members of the public to drive with caution and care.

“This is now another accident on the streets in less than a week. We noticed

that speed was a contributing factor; we urge you to wear your seatbelt,” ASP Pinder stressed.

“We know that in the yuletide season people are out celebrating and folks are going out to celebrate and people tend to drink more. So, we suggest that persons have a designated driver to make sure you get home safely.”

ASP Pinder also warned that people who are lending cars to family members, who are not holders of a driver’s license and insurance certificate, will be prosecuted.

“We also understand we are still under COVID-19 and there is no reason to speed. If you leave home on time you are certain to arrive at your destination safely and on time. We also urge persons to pay attention to the street signs because they are there for a reason,” he said.

On Saturday, a young man died in a traffic accident on East Sunrise Highway.

Three other people were injured in that accident and hospitalised.

Two of those persons have since been discharged from hospital.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, December 17, 2020, PAGE 3

Political parties pointing fingers after Nygard arrest

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Senior Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

PROGRESSIVE Liberal Party leader Philip “Brave” Davis said allegations against Peter Nygard in a new indictment “are extremely serious and disturbing and should be pursued to the full extent of the law”.

“We hope the women involved receive justice,” he said in a Twitter post yesterday afternoon.

The comment came after the Free National Movement released press statements accusing the PLP of being silent on the matter. Mr Nygard was a benefactor of the PLP for years.

“For too long Philip ‘Brave’ Davis, Fred Mitchell and the PLP’s senior leadership sat quietly saying nothing as troubling allegations swirled around Peter Nygard,” the FNM said.

“They have consistently tried to sidestep the matter and dodged accountability for their party. This must stop. They must come to realise that these allegations – detailed in the new indictment – demand a response.

“Prosecutors painted a horrifying picture. They allege Nygard forcibly sexually assaulted some of his victims while others were assaulted by Nygard’s associates.

The indictment made clear some of his alleged victims include young Bahamian girls.

“If convicted, it was also reported that prosecutors want Nygard to forfeit all proceeds derived from his alleged racketeering activity and any property used to commit or facilitate his alleged sex trafficking activity. This is a good first step.

We hope the PLP will agree with the rest of us.

“And instead of obfuscating and avoiding addressing the troubling allegations, Davis and his PLP leadership team should give a full accounting of their party’s relationship with Nygard to the Bahamian people.

Bahamians want to know how much Nygard contributed to the PLP’s 2017 campaign when Davis was former Prime Minister Perry Christie’s top lieutenant. There are reports of significant contributions dating back a decade: How much did it cost to buy the PLP’s friendship? Will the PLP pledge to contribute all that money to a victims’ fund? Next, can the PLP tell us whether United States prosecutors contacted any member of the party over these troubling allegations?”

PLP chairman Fred Mitchell in a statement yesterday claimed Mr Nygard has also contributed money to the FNM’s political campaign. He called the FNM’s press statement a “distraction from the abject failures of this FNM government” and listed some of those supposed failures.

“They have spent $150 million and counting on a Grand Bahama hotel that no one works in,” he said. “There is no economic relief in sight for Grand Bahama. The FNM must stop wasting time on foolishness and get to work urgently––increasing much needed airlift into

THESE images taken from a video after the PLP election victory show Peter Nygard with PLP ministers Shane Gibson, V Alfred Gray, Jerome Fitzgerald, Kenred Dorsett and current PLP Senator Dr Michael Darville.

Nassau lest the recent hotel group of PLP Cabinet minopenings prove to be a tem- isters on winning the 2012 porary exercise.” general election after the According to an indict- members visited Nygard ment filed by the Southern Cay. The PLP politicians District of New York on in the video included Mr Tuesday, Mr Nygard alleg- Davis, Mr Gibson and other edly participated in a former ministers such as “decades-long pattern of Damian Gomez, Alfred criminal conduct involving Gray, Jerome Fitzgerald at least dozens of victims and Kenred Dorsett. in the United States, The In 2016, covert video Bahamas and Canada, recordings of Mr Nygard among other locations.” were included in court The assertions in the documents based on an indictment largely mirror investigation paid for by the allegations in a class- Save the Bays. Lyford Cay action lawsuit filed against resident Louis Bacon, who Mr Nygard in New York has a long running feud earlier this year. with Mr Nygard that has The Tribune has reported played out in court and extensively over the years other arenas, helped form about Mr Nygard’s legal the STB. issues and connections to In a video recording on local politicians.

May 10, 2015 between Mr The long-time Lyford Nygard, and self-described Cay resident once bragged gang members Livingthat he gave the PLP $5 ston “Toggie” Bullard and million in the lead-up to the Wisler “Bobo” Davilma,” 2012 general election.

Mr Nygard complained that In 2017, details emerged Mr Christie made “fake of a meeting between promises” over issuing him former Prime Minister a land lease.

Perry Christie, former “[Mr Christie] He’s got Labour Minister Shane to do it right now,” he said.

Gibson and Mr Nygard in “That’s the push. That’s the a luxury suite in Las Vegas push everyone’s presumashortly before the 2012 bly having. Brave is having. election.

Shane Gibson’s having. You That year, this newspa- guys are pushing him. I’m per reported that he sent pushing him and this push $94,131.10 to a Bank of has to intensify now this America account belong- week.” ing to Mr Gibson between In the video, Mr Nygard August 2011 and January spoke about coming from 2013. a meeting with Mr Davis, Mr Gibson said the then the deputy prime minmoney was used as a contri- ister. He claimed Mr Davis bution to his 2012 election said “everybody is fruscampaign and for com- trated with the PM” over munity initiatives in the the hold up over the lease.

Golden Gates constituIn 2016, Prime Minister ency, such as scholarships to Dr Hubert Minnis admitstudents. ted that he met Mr Bullard In 2013, Mr Nygard three times. He said the pair released an eight-minute never discussed Mr Nygard. celebration of the PLP’s He said Mr Bullard came to 2012 election victory titled tell him that Michael Pin“Nygard Takes Bahamas tard, then the chairman of Back.” In the video, Mr the FNM, was about to be Nygard congratulates a set-up.

CALLS ON MINNIS TO CANCEL OIL EXPLORATION LICENCES ACTIVISTS and business owners have written to Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis urging him to “immediately cancel” all existing oil exploration licences, reject all proposed renewals and impose a permanent ban on fossil fuel exploration within the country’s borders.

Yesterday’s 16 letter to Dr Minnis was signed by more than 50 NGOs and businesses who all oppose oil drilling.

They are throwing their support behind the Our

Islands, Our Future coalition which has filed an application for judicial review in the Supreme Court, hoping to halt Bahamas Petroleum Company’s planned exploratory oil well.

This comes as BPC’s drilling ship, Stena IceMAX, anchored out to sea between the Berry Islands and Grand Bahama on Tuesday. BPC plans to begin drilling its first exploratory well in waters 90 miles west of Andros on Sunday.

“Opening our Bahamian waters to offshore oil drilling leaves us vulnerable to disasters that pose an unacceptable risk to our oceans, beaches, coastal communities, marine life, national parks, barrier reef and to the livelihood of the many Bahamians who depend on healthy waters for fishing, recreation and tourism dollars,” the letter, which was also sent to local media, notes.

“Drilling in our waters would mean that The Bahamas would shoulder all the

risks, while most of any profits would be exported out of the country. The first location where Bahamas Petroleum Company (BPC) seeks to drill off western Andros Island is just outside the ecologically important Cay Sal Marine Managed Area and the Andros West Side National Park. This area is a marine mammal hot spot filled with dolphins and other marine life, and it borders the important commercial fishing grounds of the Great Bahama Bank and the

world-famous bonefishing flats of Andros.

“In the last decade our region was severely impacted by the catastrophic Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The Deepwater rig was an exploratory well like the one that BPC is currently seeking to drill.

Even a partial repeat of that disaster would devastate our tourism, commercial fishing, diving and marine recreation industries. Tourism alone generates 50 percent of our gross domestic product, while these

other industries are vital to the survival of many farflung communities.

“Simply put, drilling threatens our very way of life.”

The letter was signed by several local NGOs/businesses such as Bahamas National Trust, Bahamas Plastics Movement, Bimini Biological Field Station Foundation, Paradise Cove Beach Resort and Earthcare Bahamas, among others, and co-signed by several international environment groups.

PAGE 4, Thursday, December 17, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

More than $177m spent on COVID-19 relief

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE government has spent over $177m on various COVID-19 relief initiatives in response to the health crisis, Minister of State for Finance Kwasi Thompson announced yesterday.

Mr Thompson, who is also minister of state for Grand Bahama, made the revelation after tabling the 2020 Fiscal Strategy Report for the first time in the Senate yesterday, where he also pledged the government’s commitment to continue providing social and economic support for those negatively impacted

by COVID-19.

Noting that unprecedented times call for unprecedented measures, the minister said from March until October, the Minnis administration had spent over $177m in direct COVID support – a move he said was in keeping with the government’s promise.

Giving a breakdown of the figure’s expenditure, Senator Thompson said $22.8 million out of that number was spent towards public health, sanitation and other related matters, while $17.2m was used to fund essential food support programmes.

Through the food initiative, the minister said some 140,000 families across the country were able to be assisted by the government through its partnership with various NGOs.

KWASI THOMPSON The initiative, which was launched in early June, is expected to continue in the first quarter of 2021.

As it relates to unemployment assistance, Senator Thompson said the government spent $45.5m on supporting Bahamians who lost their jobs due to COVID-19’s impact.

He added the move benefited some 7,000 businesses, the majority of which were sole proprietorships.

Nearly 37,000 persons also received unemployment support “to the tune of over $63m through the end of September,” Mr Thompson continued.

Like the government’s food relief initiative, the unemployment benefit programme has also been extended to assist those impacted by COVID until next year.

However, Mr Thompson was clear that additional funds allocated by the government for the extension of those programmes is not a part of the $177m that has already been spent in response to COVID-19.

Describing the support measures as “unprecedented”, he continued:

“Forty-four point four million was provided in tax credit/tax deferral as part of the government’s payroll support programme to assist companies in meeting their payroll expenses.

To date, more than 60 businesses have availed themselves of this programme, protecting nearly 7,000 jobs.”

He said that $47.3m was allocated in small business continuity loans and grants, supporting approximately 1,000 beneficiaries and nearly 4,500 employees thus far.

“In addition to the $177m of COVID spend, the government committed to extend the food assistance program to end-March 2021; it committed $45m to extend the government’s unemployment assistance programme to the end of December, and more recently the prime minister announced the Cabinet’s commitment to continue the programme through end-January.”

Yesterday, Mr Thompson also sought to address concerns related to the valuation of the Bahamian dollar, noting the value still remains “as strong” as it was prior to COVID. “Today, I am pleased to advise that as of (Tuesday), December 15, 2020, the foreign reserve levels remain near historic highs of some $2.39bn, or more than 37 weeks of import cover,” he stressed.

“Thus, I am pleased to cast aside any concern regarding the threat of

devaluation of the Bahamian dollar. Despite the economic trauma of the last nine or so months, the prudent management by this administration has ensured that the Bahamian dollar remains as strong and as secure today as it was before the onset of this most devastating economic setback.”

Despite the country’s economic fall-out from COVID-19, Senator Thompson said officials are hopeful about the new year, expressing hope that the country will bounce back better than before.

To aid the country’s economic recovery, he said the government will be focusing on five key components in its 2020 fiscal strategy to help facilitate The Bahamas’ “return to a fiscally sustainable path.”

The five components include continuing a dynamic COVID-19 response, strategically recalibrating public finances, building economic resilience beyond COVID, optimising debt management and debt sustainability and having a proactive management of ongoing fiscal risks.

“Implemented together they will ensure that the government has sufficient resources and flexibility to meet the opportunities and challenges of governance for today and into the future; they will also foster a stable and dynamic macroeconomic environment that can stimulate growth,” he said.

TOTAL CASES TOTAL DEATHS

7,725 164

NEWLY CONFIRMED CASES WEDNESDAY 11 CASES NEW PROVIDENCE GRAND BAHAMA ELEUTHERA PENDING

TUESDAY

6 2 2 1

16 CASES

NEW PROVIDENCE GRAND BAHAMA

TOTAL TESTS

48,099

8 8

HOSPITALISED

12

CASES IN ICU

1

RECOVERED

6,098

27 NEW CASES IN TWO DAYS A TOTAL of 27 new COVID-19 cases were recorded on Tuesday and Wednesday.

According to data from the Ministry of Health, on Tuesday eight cases were recorded in New Providence and eight were in Grand Bahama.

Of the new cases, ten were male and six female.

There are currently 12 cases in hospital, with one in intensive care.

On Wednesday, there were 11 cases, with six in New Providence, two in Grand Bahama, two in

Eleuthera and one location pending. Of those cases three were men, and eight women.

The country’s death count also increased by one this week to 164, after a 55-year-old New Providence woman died on December 13.

Her death marked the first COVID-19 death since early November.

The country now has 7,714 cases with 1,404 of them being active.

The Ministry of Health said 6,087 cases have recovered.

‘FISHING BILL ISN’T FAIR PLAY’ from page one

Michael Pintard concerning the new Fisheries Bill 2020, which will replace the Fisheries Resources (Jurisdiction and Conservation) Act, 1977 when passed.

A key provision of the bill says: “No person shall engage in fishing, or be employed on a commercial fishing vessel for fishing other than sport fishing in the fisheries waters; and use or be employed on a commercial fishing vessel licenced under this act for fishing other than charter sport fishing, unless that

person is a citizen of The Bahamas.”

Mr Turnquest, who resigned from Cabinet under controversy last month, said the provision is discriminatory.

He said: “Does that mean that spousal permit holders and permanent residents are likewise excluded from being able to fish? And if that is in fact the case, how do we square that with the constitution and general human right?

Because I would think that any spouse of a Bahamian should have the right to support their family in whatever their skill is and I think it’s a slippery slope

because if you start with fishing, then is the hotel industry next?”

Mr Turnquest asked whether human rights organisations were consulted on the provision, saying: “We do not want to continue to perpetuate a discriminatory policy against Bahamian women in particular because let’s face it, that’s what we’re talking about. The constitution already has some built-in discriminatory clauses, this seems to be further entrenching that discriminatory clause were we males are saying to these females that we don’t trust you to make a decision

about your spouse…and it also seems to be admitting that maybe the Immigration Department is not able to police these marriages of convenience and thus we are punishing people who actually have a sustainable marriage.”

In response, Mr Pintard said administrations have missed the “marvelous opportunity to create parity in the constitution by supporting Bahamian men and women.”

He continued: “But this bill is not the flashpoint to relitigate those issues which we should address, so I don’t seek to have the important, wide ranging provisions in this Bill to be subsumed in the discussion on this one aspect but to answer the question pointedly we sit in this House, it is a privilege on many levels, one of those privileges seems to be there are a number of spouses of Bahamians who are equally and in some cases more talented than persons in this room but who by virtue of a carve out in

our system cannot offer for the House of Assembly and I’ve not heard a petition by a member in this place or the other place petitioning for their participation and highlighting what they term to be discrimination.”

During his contribution, Mr Pintard said: “The introduction of foreign nationals within the sector has been problematic from the onset.

While their involvement have proven to be beneficial for some Bahamian commercial vessel owners, it has created division within the sector. Further, with the introduction of these individuals, certain harmful fishing practices have evolved, some of which are featured in the decline of certain species, including the Queen Conch, and health (diver) concerns of fishers. Another important element, which involves foreign fishers, is the matter of alleged marriages of convenience. This matter may be linked to human trafficking, and forced labour practices.”

Last month, the Bahamas

Commercial Fishers Alliance applauded the tabling of the Fisheries Bill.

Describing the Bill as historic, Mr Pintard said the process toward debating the Bill in Parliament took ten years across successive administrations, “at least nine major public consultations, numerous stakeholder meetings and countless hours of media interviews, drafting and editing.”

He said developing the fisheries sector “is seen as having the greatest potential for the immediate development of Family Island economies, in particular islands in the Southeastern Bahamas.”

He noted that fisheries contribute just below one percent to the country’s GDP, employing 15,000 people full-time. He said total production of fisheries products over the past five years has averaged around six million pounds, corresponding to an average value of some $54.3m.

He said these numbers can dramatically increase.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, December 17, 2020, PAGE 5

BASDEN BACKS WEATHER INNOVATORS from page one

given, can tell the various degrees and stages of damage, flood and water infiltration at various points and we could describe it more accurately.

“Right now we will just say, ‘flooding’, but we will be able to even graphically show where the water levels will be on the houses and infiltration in areas. My Doppler weather radars, mainly (allow) for me to see what is approaching The Bahamas in the distance.

“Once the system gets into The Bahamas, this new network will allow me to see street level in precipitation. Right now I cannot get street level precipitation because Doppler weather

radar is not designed for that.”

Not dismissing his current equipment, Mr Basden explained that the Doppler is designed mainly to see severe tropical cyclones and severe weather, but the precipitation and the more refined detail cannot be seen by that equipment.

He said for the project to be approved, they will need a meteorological watch office. And, what that means, he said, is instead of the current aviation, public and marine forecast the Department of Meteorology will look at sectors in the atmosphere where the planes are travelling and be able to give the weather for those inflight.

Asked what the difference would be if the

network was in place last year when the devastating Hurricane Dorian hit, he gave clear indication that citizens would have seen the urgency and would have been more prepared.

“In Dorian’s case, we had rapid intensification which is when a cyclone increases its wind speed by at least 35 miles an hour in a 24-hour period,” Mr Basden said.

“We would have been able when we started our watch and warning those who might have been a little hesitant in wanting to move to shelters or safety, we would have been able to show where the storm surge would be and how high it would be.

“There is nothing like a picture painting a thousand words. When you show that

to people, graphically. The tone and sense of the forecast would be of greater urgency. That would have made them more aware.

Obviously, from what I’ve seen with Dorian we had some unprecedented things in that no other time do I recall a Category Five hurricane remaining rather stationary and just wobbled.”

Mr Basden said there will always be meteorological challenges, but this network will allow his department to take that high level theory and make it plain for laymen to understand.

“This will allow meteorologists and forecasters to put everything in a format that the general public can see, from what we

are producing, the level of inundation, the wind damage and the like,” he explained. “It would assist us in portraying more simply and understandably to the layman, the risk and the vulnerability of where they live, based on a particular weather phenomenon.”

The new network declares: “As the ICAO designated ‘Meteorological Weather Authority’ for International Air Navigation Services on behalf of a contracting state to the Chicago Convention (1944), Bahamas Aviation, Climate and Severe Weather Network shall stand up a Meteorological Watch Office (MWO) with the resources, systems and expertise to provide

24/7/365 continuous watch over Bahamas’ sovereign archipelagic baselines, territorial seas, contiguous and exclusive economic zone.”

This network involves the creation of technology for ‘severe weather sensors’ which will create highly detailed maps covering atmospheric and climate conditions, surface hydrology which are linked to air and sea traffic movements becoming vital tools during severe weather events such as Hurricane Dorian.

When put in place, The Bahamas would be able to use the network to create detailed 3D imagery showing exactly what conditions will be like - even down to individual street level - in a severe weather event.

‘Why can restaurants open but the Fish Fry stays closed?’

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net FISH Fry vendors in Exuma are calling on the competent authority to allow them to resume operations, saying it’s “unfair” that other restaurant operators on the island have been given the greenlight to reopen while their businesses remain closed.

LaTroy Wright, owner of Wonderation Restaurant & Bar, told The Tribune that vendors have not consistently worked since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March, a situation that has left many owners’ struggling to make ends meet.

When Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis eased certain restrictions on restaurants and fish frys in early September after weeks of being shut down, the Exuma resident said vendors were able to generate some sort of income, although not like what was seen in pre-COVID times.

“We have been on lockdown since March,” he said. “And normally, March, April, May, those are months we prepare

ONE of the stalls at the Fish Fry in Exuma. and make a few dollars that carry us through the slower months when tourism dies down so right now, they allowed us to open for a week or two in July and maybe two weeks in late October but the funds that we actually generated were just automatically went to bills from the initial closedown.”

However, things took a turn for the worse for Exuma vendors when Dr Minnis in November

ordered the shutdown of all restaurants, bars, fish frys and announced other restrictive measures due to high COVID-19 cases on that island.

Since then, a number of restrictions have been lifted, with the resumption of in church services for example.

However, Mr Wright said it is still not clear why vendors have not been allowed to open, saying the situation feels downright

“discriminatory” as owners have been left in the total dark as to why their establishments must still remain closed a month later.

“We all are unanimously frustrated with the situation that is currently happening and add insult to injury, it feels so discriminatory. All of the other businesses on the island are allowed to open and we’re just figuring out like why we got left in the dark,” he said.

“A lot of the vendors out

revitalisation of international travel and return of our guests, to the Caribbean and The Bahamas,” said Graeme Davis, president, Baha Mar. “When faced with uncertainty and hardship this year, the Baha Mar team looked forward towards a bright future, and because of their perseverance and strength, we are opening our doors today and welcoming travellers back to the beloved Bahamas. We are humbled by the tremendous support of our guests, and look forward to honouring this monumental occasion with the entire Baha Mar community.”

In celebration of Baha Mar’s return, the Grand Hyatt is introducing a Bahamian staycation package starting at $199 for the local community to stay at the resort during the holidays and beyond.

Several amenities are now open at Baha Mar including the Baha Mar Casino; a variety of alfresco dining options; the Jack Nicklaus Signature golf course; the ESPA spa and The Current Gallery, and others.

Starting on December 20, Baha Mar will welcome non-hotel guests for lunch and dinner at its signature restaurants, for a round of golf at Royal Blue Golf

Course and tennis at The Racquet Club. All nonhotel guests will be required to book reservations online for restaurants and obtain a negative rapid antigen COVID test within five days of arriving at the resort.

For golf and tennis, tee time or court reservations must be presented, along with a negative COVID test no older than five days.

To safely vacation at Baha Mar, all local and international guests will be required to take a rapid antigen test upon arrival at the hotel. Once cleared, guests will be welcomed to enjoy the resort and all of its amenities.

BAHA MAR OPENS DOORS TODAY from page one

The resort said it has implemented a ‘commitment to wellbeing’, which includes revised cleanliness protocols that “go above and beyond Baha Mar’s already rigorous standards”, enhanced housekeeping and engineering, heightened food safety and digital ordering, touchless payments, and additional technology methods that allow for an abundance of contactless experiences from the moment guests check in.

“Today marks a significant milestone in the

SUSPECT ARRESTED AFTER ARMED ROBBERY AN armed robbery suspect was arrested yesterday morning due to “the quick response” of New Providence police.

Police said shortly after 6am, officers received reports of an armed robbery in progress in the area of Blue

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Hill and John Road. A description of the suspect was transmitted. Moments later, officers from the Operations Unit while on Dunmore Lane and Peters Street observed a male fitting the description.

The suspect, on seeing the police,

attempted to escape, however, he was caught and arrested. The officers recovered the cash, other stolen items and uncovered two firearms: a black 9mm pistol and an AK47 rifle with 25 rounds of unfired ammunition.

there are thriving young men. For me myself, I’m 31 years old and I started that business when I was 25 or 26 and we are young people who came from nothing and who tried to make ourselves something and instead of our government trying to assist us and propel us forward, it seems like they are trying to be regressive and send us back.”

He added: “These are the things that are kind of upsetting and discouraging in this kind of time. If they insist upon keeping us close, then let us get some assistance because we have employees, we have like 50 employees between all of us and it’s a trickle-down effect.”

Amid concerns of the local hub being a possible COVID-19 hotspot, Mr Wright said he does not believe that to be the case.

“There are claims of fish fry being a coronavirus hotspot but, in all actuality, that is not the case in Exuma because we at the fish fry operate in an openair environment where we have a lot of outside services being rendered. So, there isn’t a confined space where that air is being circulated to affect us.

“Now, yes there were people as in the case with everybody where they

forgot that they had to wear a mask but those persons are on the outside and we cannot police people on the outside, we can only control what happens on the inside of our businesses.

That again herein lies the problem and even though there are comments stating that all of the transmission is happening at the Fish Fry, that is not the case and for them to put the blame solely on Fish Fry, I think that’s completely unfair and unfounded.”

As of Tuesday, total COVID-19 cases on Exuma stood at 113. On Saturday, the island recorded one new case.

With COVID-19 infections trending downward on the island, Mr Wright said vendors feel they should be allowed to open with strict protocols in place.

“It’s already a stressful time for business owners and just local residents as well and the holiday season is clearly not going to be what it used to be so persons are actually looking for that little bit of joy to remind them of some of the positive things in life and fish fry is a place where people can actually relieve some of that built up stress or depression they have during this whole situation,” he said.

PAGE 6, Thursday, December 17, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

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After COVID, it’s time to tighten our belts HERE come the cuts.

That’s the message coming out of government as it prepares to deal with the economic cost of COVID-19.

Spending will be down, we are told, with recurrent expenditure to be cut by $100m and capital expenditure to be cut by another $100m – all that between now and June.

Kwasi Thompson, the new Minister of State for Finance, says the government has been forced to seek deeper cuts due to unplanned spending on COVID-19 related food and unemployment assistance, plus $21m in extra subsidies to state-owned businesses.

That’s no shock – we knew all that. In fact, we’d imagine that’s just dipping the toe into the situation.

Anyone looking at the state of the economy over the past year will have seen large numbers of people out of work or furloughed because of businesses – especially the tourist market – having to shut their doors. That knock-on means less income for the government too, through taxation on imports, VAT and so on. People who don’t have money aren’t spending, which means the government gets less back.

On the other end, the government has been paying out to keep people going until the end of this crisis. In short, more money out, less money in. That was always going to have to be paid back.

Looming over all of that is the spectre of our $1.5bn debt payments that are coming due. The acting finance secretary, Marvin Johnson, says he “foresees no challenge” over meeting that debt – but we don’t imagine there’s a lot of room to spare.

We hope those cuts in expenditure will be limited in terms of the jobs that are cut – although those are often one of the biggest areas of recurrent expenditure. Putting more people out of work won’t help the economy to kickstart again – or to help pay those bills at the likes of the Water and Sewerage Corporation or BPL that have stacked up.

But make no mistake – there will be real pain in this for many. It won’t be an

easy road back by any means.

One key factor is this – how soon we can get those vaccinations and get our economy running again. Whatever price tag there is on those vaccines, the cost to our economy of not having them will be far worse.

Nygard finger-pointing YOU would think the PLP hardly knew Peter Nygard.

Party leader Philip ‘Brave’ Davis tweeted out that he hopes the women involved in the allegations against the Canadian billionaire receive justice, while Fred Mitchell decided to throw a stone from inside his glass house and said look over there, the FNM got money from Peter Nygard too.

Take a moment and go and look on YouTube – you can easily find videos in which Peter Nygard “takes back The Bahamas” or another one, from which you can see photographs in today’s Tribune, of Mr Nygard shaking hands with the new Cabinet ministers after the PLP’s election victory.

In another recording from 2015, Mr Nygard speaks of having just come from a meeting with then Deputy Prime Minister Mr Davis.

So tweets about justice, we are afraid to say, are just platitudes. What is the PLP doing to assess its links with Mr Nygard? What was said, what was promised, what was done? It is disingenuous to point the finger elsewhere, rather like the Biblical flaw of pointing out the mote in someone else’s eye while disregarding the beam in one’s own.

The PLP must properly face up to its Nygard problem. And not just them.

Everyone connected to Nygard must be forthcoming.

The allegations are not just against Nygard, but against all of those involved in helping him build his empire and cover up his alleged wrongdoings. Justice will only be done when all of those who played a part have been held accountable.

The legacy the PLP can’t deny EDITOR, The Tribune.

NO MATTER how hard they try, the PLP can’t shake Peter Nygard’s dubious legacy. Always bragging about how much money he contributed to their campaigns, Nygard has become inextricably connected with the party in the mind of most Bahamians.

And just when they thought the coast was finally clear, he came back, like the Ghost of Christmas Past, to haunt them once again!

Back in February, when Nygard’s offices in New York were raided by the FBI, the PLP chairman Fred Mitchell told Bahamians to take it all with a large grain of salt. Nothing to see here! It was all a setup, a

CLARIFICATION

IN YESTERDAY’S paper, we published a ragout of part of page one published in November 2019 which covered the first rape allegations against Peter Nygard. The photograph which appeared alongside the Nygard story had nothing to do with the rape allegations. The Tribune is happy to clarify this matter.

fraud designed by the PLP’s enemies.

With Nygard’s arrest on US charges though, turns out that Mitchell’s grain of salt is actually a big Nygard-shaped lump of coal, arriving just in time for Christmas!

The PLP really can’t complain. They have indeed been very naughty when it comes to Nygard for a long time.

When he got in trouble, first for environmental violations and then for harassing the environmentalists who tried to stand up to him, the PLP fell all over themselves to defend Nygard. Agriculture Minister V Alfred Gray called the Finland-born Canadian citizen “a Bahamian”, “a philanthropist” and said “I think he has given more to this country than many other Bahamians”.

Other PLP MPs took to the floor of the House to praise Nygard, while Mitchell himself, along with Minister of Education Jerome Fitzgerald, launched a shameful charade to attack and threaten Bahamians, a bizarre episode which led to Fitzgerald being fined $150,000 in connection with the release of stolen

emails. To say the the PLP has bent over backwards for Mr Nygard is an understatement in the extreme.

No matter how many attempts they make to rehabilitate their image (Christie’s “New PLP” comes to mind) the party continues to be haunted by its unsavoury associates. From Colombian drug dealers like Carlos Lehder, to financial criminals like Robert Vesco, to individuals such as Mr Nygard. Like so many Grinches, these shady figures have continually threatened to steal the party’s joy.

What are Bahamians to think? Perhaps we should deal with the PLP’s latest alleged sordid connection in the same way we did the first one, and hold a commission of inquiry into the political connections of Peter Nygard in The Bahamas.

Maybe with a little more light shed on the matter, with a little truth and reconciliation, the PLP could find its way out of this curse, and be on the “nice list” by next Christmas, just in time for campaign season!

L LEWIS December 16, 2020

Wells should give public apology EDITOR, The Tribune.

I WAS shocked to hear the Hon Renward Wells, who is the Leader of Government Business in the House of Assembly, publicly berate Mr David Forbes, the Clerk of the House, for allowing a Private Members Bill to be read for a first time. Even though Minister Wells was seated at the time, in the moment of his anger and frustration he spoke loud enough that he could be clearly heard over the television.

Mr Fred McAlpine, the Member of Parliament for Pineridge, had given notice the previous week that he intended to go through the procedure of having a Bill placed on the House agenda which would repeal an existing piece of legislation. There was no objection to this being done at the time.

On 2nd December at the appropriate time, Mr McAlpine moved for the first reading of the Bill. The Clerk on orders from the Speaker rose and read the Bill a first time and tabled the Bill. Mr Wells could then be clearly heard berating the Clerk, blaming him for allowing the Bill to be included on the House agenda and saying if it was not for him what happened in the House today would not have happened.

I wonder if Minister Wells is familiar with the Westminster convention that public servants should be anonymous. This convention shelters public servants from being included in controversy, especially political ones as the public officer is unable to defend himself in a public way. The Clerk of the House gives procedural advice to the Speaker and to members of parliament.

That advice does not have to be accepted nor followed by the Speaker.

Whatever advice Mr Forbes offered to the Speaker was a confidential matter and he should not have been singled out for

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net admonishment by Minister Wells. If the Speaker orders the Clerk to read a Bill the Clerk does not have a discretion, he must follow the Speaker’s orders.

The Constitution empowers any parliamentarian (Senator or Member of Parliament) to introduce any Bill or motion in Parliament. However, only a cabinet minister may move a Money Bill. The Constitution defines a Money Bill as any Bill which imposes or increases any tax, imposes any charge on the Consolidated Fund, alters any charge other than reducing it, compounding or remitting any debt due to the Bahamas. So a Money Bill generally speaking is a Bill which imposes or increases taxes or charges. The Ocean Industries Bill nor the proposed Bill to repeal it does any of those things.

The UK Parliament defines a Money Bill as “one which is certified by the Speaker as such and is one which contains nothing other than financial measures”. The UK Parliament also has a Financial Bill which would have financial measures in addition to other measures. The Bill which was proposed to be repealed contained many issues other than financial matters. While it is the Speaker’s discretion to decide if a Bill is a Money Bill, it is my view that the Bill in question is not a Money Bill.

However, once the Speaker ordered that the Bill should proceed to first reading, there was no harm in the Bill being read a first time. The introduction and first reading of the Bill did no injury to the Constitution. Article 59 (3) (a) reads: “Except on the recommendation of the cabinet signified by a minister, the House of Assembly shall not -Proceed upon any Bill…” Proceed in

this context does not refer to first reading of a Bill as first reading is merely a procedure to have the proposed Bill included on the House’s agenda. Proceed upon any Bill refers to the substantive second reading motion and debate on a Bill. It includes the committal stage of the Bill when members review the Bill clause by clause, and it also includes the third reading and passing of the Bill.

If the Bill was to be referred to a House committee it should be referred after first reading and before debate on the matter. I assume the Bill was referred to a committee so that the findings of the committee could better inform the debate on the Bill. Once a Bill is referred to a committee the mover of the Bill, Mr McAlpine, loses control of the Bill.

So why was Minister Wells so adamant and resolute that the Bill not be read a first time and included on the House agenda? Most of the revenue items in the Bill are exempted and the government receives mostly royalties. Are some private interests being protected?

Or is there some deeper objection to the airing of the subject matter? His conduct reminded me of a comment

by William Waldegrave, a former UK cabinet minister: “It is the definition of a feeble minister if he blames the civil service for not delivering his policies.”

It seems that Minister Wells was angry with the Speaker, but not able to lash out at the Speaker he took his frustrations out on the public servant. What a scaredy-cat! Whatever the reason Minister Wells seemed so troubled he was dead wrong to scold Mr Forbes so publicly and the Speaker ought to have protected Mr Forbes. In any case the minister owes Mr Forbes a public apology.

Nothing less would suffice.

MAURICE TYNES Nassau, December 11, 2020.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, December 17, 2020, PAGE 7

‘US PLAYING DIRTY WITH SPY CLAIMS’ from page one

The embassy’s Public Affairs Officer Daniel Durazo said in a statement to The Tribune: “As Secretary of State Pompeo has said, allowing untrusted, high-risk vendors into telecommunications networks makes critical systems vulnerable to disruption, manipulation and espionage, and puts sensitive government, commercial and personal information at risk.

“Countries need to be able to trust that equipment and software companies will not threaten national security, privacy, intellectual property, or human rights.

“Trust cannot exist where telecom vendors are subject to an authoritarian government, like the (People’s Republic of China), that lacks an independent judiciary or rule of law that would effectively prohibit this misuse of data.”

For its part, the Chinese Embassy said: “Some western newspapers are really fans of such stories, even though they never reflect

facts or show evidence.”

Both statements came after the Guardian newspaper in the UK reported that Chinese communications providers used BTC to conduct surveillance on Americans roaming on their mobile phones in this country.

The assertion that major security vulnerabilities exist in the Bahamian telecommunications system was based on a report by Gary Miller, a US former mobile network security executive, who was said by the UK Guardian to have “spent years analysing mobile threat intelligence reports, and observations of signalling traffic between foreign and US mobile operators”.

Mr Miller and his business, Exigent Media, a cyber threat research firm, published two reports that detail how BTC’s mobile phone system was purportedly used in a “coordinated attack” on US cellular phone numbers

by Chinese state-owned mobile providers.

While The Bahamas and BTC accounted for just 0.34 percent and 0.35 percent of country and operator

“attacks”, respectively, in 2019, both were singled out for special mention due to their unwitting alleged involvement in a series of “coordinated” raids on several US phone numbers in 2018 and 2019.

“Attacks are coordinated between foreign country networks,” the report alleged. “In 2018, China, Barbados and The Bahamas networks were observed attacking the same mobile users with similar techniques. Likewise, attacks from China, Palestine, The Bahamas and Panama networks were also observed, indicating network selling for conducting intelligence operations…

“A cluster of attacks was discovered targeting a group of US phones from networks including China Unicom, Cable & Wireless (Flow) Barbados and BTC. The attacks against these phones indicated co-ordination between the operators.

“This could be achieved

by China acquiring network addresses from these two Caribbean operators, allowing China to originate attacks, both of which are partially owned by the same

parent company, CWC.” One US mobile was purportedly subject to 87 such “attacks” via BTC’s network, while two other users saw some 14 and 12 intrusion attempts, respectively.

In response to the claims, the Chinese Embassy said: “For a period of time, especially during President Trump taking the White House, the US has been lobbying other countries with carrot and stick to stop their normal cooperation with Chinese high-tech companies, including Huawei, under the pretext of national security. Now they are targeting other Chinese telecommunication companies.

“China is a staunch defender of cyber security and firmly opposes and cracks down on cyberattacks of any form in accordance with law. Facts have proved that Chinese companies have been maintaining a very good record on network security. Take Huawei as an example. In the past 30 years, Huawei has built more than 1,500 networks in more than 170 countries and regions, partnering with 228 Fortune

Global 500 companies and serving more than three billion people around the world.

“There have been no such network security incidents as the Snowden incident and WikiLeaks, no such cyber surveillance programs as ‘Prism Gate’, ‘Formula Organization’ and ‘Echelon System’, and no country has been able to come up with evidence to prove Huawei products have back doors.

“On the contrary, as AFP reported in October, the US and other Five Eye countries, the notorious intelligence alliance, have publicly requested that backdoors be set up in encryption applications such as Signal and Telegram to provide access to law enforcement agencies. So far, the United States has not given an explanation.”

The Chinese Embassy said the US “plays dirty and tends to mobilise state power to bully others” when it loses competitive edge.

“The real purpose is to crack down on nonAmerican enterprises that have gained an edge over

American ones, and to suppress the legitimate development rights of other countries, so as to safeguard the monopoly, self-interests, and scientific and technological hegemony of the US,” the embassy said.

“China and Caribbean countries have all along maintained friendly relations and mutual beneficial cooperation. We believe that after recognising the truth, most countries will take an objective and impartial stand and make independent judgments. We are confident that the cooperation of the two sides will stand the test of time.”

This is not the first time the Bahamas has been caught up in spying claims involving one of these two superpowers.

In 2013, the Intercept reported from documents obtained by Edward Snowden which showed that a US National Security Agency programme, SOMALGET, was secretly intercepting recording and archiving every cell phone conversation in the Bahamas and that those recordings were kept for a month.

‘PANDEMIC HAS DELAYED COURTS’

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

THE COVID-19 pandemic has added more backlogs to the courts, but Chief Justice Brian Moree, QC, said the judiciary is working its way through those cases which have been disrupted since March.

At a contract signing with the Bahamas judiciary and Anchor Group, Chief Justice Moree said: “What I can say is that we have each division of the court system looking at the backlog and we’re attacking it two different ways. We’re looking at the backlog as it existed prior to March 2020 in other words prior to the major shutdown as a result of the pandemic. That was a pre-COVID backlog. That is an inventory which we have been managing for sometime and will have to continue to manage that.

“Then we have a second unit working on the postMarch backlog. These were cases in all divisions, in all courts which were displaced as a result of COVID-19...

The third component is we have to manage our calendar going forward so we don’t further compound these backlogs. To make sure that we’re not contributing to the backlog through adjournments and other delays.

“I certainly feel very confident that we will be able, on the non-criminal side, to catch up with our second category of cases, in other words those that were displaced since March. In fact, I would say that at this point in time based upon the information revealed to me, we probably caught up on about 80 percent of that

particular basket of inventory of cases.”

A contract for $2m was signed for an integrated case management system (ICMS) for the courts, which will help in reducing the backlog of the cases in the system. Moreover, it will allow the courts to deliver a wide range of e-services such as e-filing, e-scheduling, e-payments, e-notices.

ICMS will accommodate the new bail management system and the new digital recording system. This was made possible through funding by the Citizens Security and Justice programme - a loan by the Inter-American Development Bank.

According to an Anchor group representative, there will be five phases to the implementation and which will be rolled out in phases by courts - two courts at a time. The goal is to finish the full implementation by February 2022.

In his remarks, Attorney General Carl Bethel noted that it was “a red-letter day for the justice system of The Bahamas”.

“This programme started in 2016 under... the former national security minister now passed on to glory and my immediate predecessor in office.

“I must commend the honourable Minister Dames for his passionate advocacy of this entire IDB project and also the honourable the chief justice ...the passion in which he embraced the opportunity presented by this project and has sort to take the legal system of the Bahamas out of the 19th century and plunge it ...into the 21st.”

National Security Minister March Dames, who was also present, said due to issues

in the judicial system, many times criminals awaiting trial commit other crimes.

He noted: “The access of modern information systems and technologies within the judiciary has hindered the delivery of timely justice which has contributed to a growing number of backlogged cases awaiting trial and a diminishing number of successful convictions. Additionally, the limited capacity of our justice system has contributed to increased incidents of crime and violence as many offenders while awaiting court proceedings commit additional crimes.”

As for Family Island cases, they are served through magistrates going on circuits from time to time to deal with cases on the other islands. The chief justice admitted, however, there has been quite an accumulated backlog on some of the islands as well which is being addressed.

He added: “We had a magistrate go to Eleuthera just a month or so ago to deal with those offenses.

We had a magistrate go to Bimini who spent three days to clear up some of their backlog and we have circuits planned to resume on a more regular basis starting in January.

“The technology available on these other Family Islands does depend upon the state of the administrator’s office in those islands.

Some of them are quite good and we are looking at holding remote hearings.

Some of them are not very good at all and it isn’t going to be possible for a remote platform so we’ll continue to service those islands through the circuits.”

‘PAY BACK EX-GIRLFRIEND FOR SMASHED WINDOWS’

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

A 25-YEAR-OLD man who broke the windows of his ex-girlfriend’s car during an altercation was yesterday ordered to compensate her for her damaged property.

Police arrested Zamar Curtis after he caused $1,130 worth of damage to the mother of his unborn baby’s Nissan Note on December 13.

He pleaded guilty to one count of damage before

Magistrate Ambrose Armbrister yesterday.

The court was told Curtis and the complainant got into an argument around 11.30pm. The prosecution said the defendant and his neighbours began throwing rocks at his ex-girlfriend’s vehicle which caused her front windshield and one of her driver and passenger windows to shatter.

In court, Curtis told the magistrate the complainant was his “baby mother” who was currently pregnant with his child. He claimed

although she told police he was her ex, they were still together. Curtis said the woman threw a rock at his car first which caused their neighbours to come outside and argue with her since they were “tired of her making noise”. He said the neighbours wanted to harm his ex-girlfriend so he threw a rock at her vehicle to “scare her so she could leave”.

Magistrate Armbrister accepted his guilty plea and ordered him to compensate the complainant $565 for the window he broke.

COMMUNITY SERVICE ORDER OVER DEATH THREAT

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

A MAN who threatened to kill the mother of his child during an argument was yesterday ordered to complete 40 hours of community service.

Keith Forbes, 30, was arrested after he issued death threats to his ex-girlfriend on December 14.

The prosecution said the complainant was on Nassau Street when Forbes

approached her and threatened to kill her. She filed an official complaint with police. Forbes was arrested a short time later.

In an interview with police, he admitted to being involved in an argument with his child’s mother, but denied threatening to kill her during the altercation.

During the hearing, the accused told the magistrate the incident occurred right after Forbes and the complainant left child support court. He said when the

defendant tried to speak with his eight-year-old son after the proceedings, the child’s mother became irate.

Mr Cargill said in the heat of the moment, Forbes told the woman “That’s how y’all people is (end up) dead”.

He admitted his guilt and Magistrate Armbrister granted Forbes a conditional discharge on the agreement he would complete 40 hours of community service. He warned him if he didn’t, he would be sentenced to two weeks on remand.

TABITHA WELLS, left, and Felicia Wilmott, outside court yesterday.

Photos: Donovan McIntosh

WOMEN ACCUSED OF FRAUD

By FARRAH JOHNSON Tribune Staff Reporter fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

AN ACCOUNTS manager accused of stealing nearly $200,000 from her place of employment was yesterday granted $9,900 bail ahead of her trial.

Tabitha Wells, 39, was accused of defrauding John Watling’s Distillery of $198,112.35 between February and August of this year.

Yesterday, she appeared before Magistrate Ambrose Armbrister charged with 12 counts of stealing by reason of employment, two counts of falsification of accounts and a single charge of acquiring the proceeds of crime.

It is alleged Wells stole the funds from the company’s Royal Bank of Canada and Commonwealth Bank corporate accounts.

The prosecution said the defendant stole $57,185.07 from the distillery’s RBC account sometime between February 4 and 29. They also said she stole $10,090.40 from the company’s Commonwealth Bank account between May 10 and 27. Wells was further accused of making false entries into the distillery’s accounting software on two different occasions.

She denied the allegations and the matter was adjourned to April 13.

Wells was granted $9,900 bail.

• In a separate case, a woman who denied defrauding a wholesale company of thousands of dollars was yesterday granted bail.

Felicia Wilmott appeared before Magistrate Ambrose Armbrister accused of

defrauding Discount Distributors Limited of over $17,000 worth of goods between September and October this year.

The prosecution alleged the 30-year-old unlawfully obtained $2,628.39 from the establishment sometime between August 15 and 30.

The Crown further alleged she defrauded the company of $5,385.13 sometime between September 2 and 14 and said she stole another $8,097.11 sometime between September 15 and 30.

Yesterday, Wilmott was also accused of illegally obtaining $1,429.06 from Discount Distributors between October 1 and 5.

The defendant pleaded not guilty to four counts of fraud by false pretences and the matter was adjourned to April 14 next year for trial.

She was granted $5,000 bail.

PAGE 8, Thursday, December 17, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

A nation for sale: Another generation of scandal O

n Tuesday the United States Department of Justice charged 79-yearold Peter Nygard with racketeering offences and sex trafficking.

A statement from the Southern District of New York alleged: “… a decades-long pattern of criminal conduct involving at least dozens of victims in the United States, The Bahamas and Canada, among other locations.”

A story in The Tribune yesterday observed: “The indictment represents the gravest legal threat the long-time Lyford Cay resident has ever faced and it comes months after a class action lawsuit was filed in New York accusing him of raping numerous women, many of them Bahamians.

The assertions in yesterday’s indictment largely mirror the allegations in the lawsuit.”

With the international community pondering why The Bahamas allowed an individual like Nygard to engage in various alleged crimes, the country has to ask itself difficult questions about the toleration of Nygard in our midst for so long.

Parallels There is a queasy and unsettling sort of déjà vu, especially for Bahamians and international observers of a certain age, who are seeing troubling parallels between the Nygard matter and the allegations against the PLP Government during the 70s and 80s drug era.

Some in the PLP desperately need a certain amnesia in order to deflect from the party’s history of allowing nefarious international characters to run ruin over our country.

Moreover, why have we as a people been complicit in allowing various foreign individuals and interests to wreck our international reputation as some of us benefitted financially while protecting unsavoury characters who damaged Bahamians and our country?

Politicians, police, preachers and many other people have benefitted at the altar of greed and mammon dispensed by an assortment of foreigners who see us as obsequious and fawning toadies easily bought off with a few dollars, pamper and other parties and a grab-bag of

favours.

To their credit there were politicians, police and prelates who refused to be seduced by these unsavoury characters and the baubles and trinkets they dangled just as did colonial and slave masters of the past.

There is something particularly nauseating about black leaders bowing down to certain foreigners who held them in racial contempt and who thought the natives could be easily purchased.

In a March, 2007 column, entitled, “Pindling, Anchor Projects and the Bahamian General Election”, Sir Arthur Foulkes wrote: “ … On September 5, 1983, Brian Ross of the NBC television network blew the lid off the whole sorry mess as he broadcast allegations of drug corruption in The Bahamas implicating the Prime Minister [Sir Lynden Pindling]. An enraged Sir Lynden flew to New York to confront his accuser live on television.

“The first response of Sir Lynden and his defenders in the PLP is still quite familiar today.

It was, they said, all a conspiracy against him and against The Bahamas on the part of the Americans, the Opposition and The Tribune.

“But things only got worse as the international press picked up the story.

Screaming headlines spoke of a nation for sale and made other uncomplimentary references to The Bahamas. The tragedy is that most of what they had to say was true.”

The very same playbook is being trotted out again in wake of allegations against Nygard and certain Bahamian politicians.

We shall see if the reflexive term of art “witch hunt” is again utilized by

PETER Nygard has been charged with racketeering offences and sex trafficking by the United States Department of Justice.

some as an instrument of deflection.

In his 2007 column, Sir Arthur offered this context of the Nation for Sale period of the 1970s and 1980s:

“As with the drug era scandal, the fallout will likely once again be widespread and uncontainable through attempts at deflection or by trying to ignore a particular elephant, whom some helped to feed and to whom they gave comfort and licence for many years, not to mention cheap access to Crown Land.”

“The trafficking in illegal narcotics had been a problem in The Bahamas for years but by the late 1970s and early 1980s this nefarious business threatened to consume the country like a raging fire.

“The so-called Colombian cowboys moved in and with the collaboration

THE PAINT DEPOT

of Bahamian and other recruits operated throughout these islands, from Abaco to Inagua. And a vicious lot they were. …

“The country was awash in drugs and narco-dollars.

A new and unprecedented era of violent crime and lawlessness was unleashed on The Bahamas and traditional values were trampled in the dust…”

Sir Arthur continued: “Promising young lives were ruined in an orgy of drug abuse and violence, and the peace and tranquility of the country were destroyed. The aftereffects of those days are still very much in evidence today with a kind of criminality that was previously rare in The Bahamas. …

“The attitude of Sir Lynden was later summed up in an astonishing statement to the effect that ‘It’s an American problem. Let them clean it up.’

“But it was very much a Bahamian problem.

It was, in fact, the worst period in the history of the modern The Bahamas and Sir Lynden’s Government did little or nothing to deal with it.”

We are once again in the midst of another major scandal, a scandal in a new generation, in which some once again sold out our nation in the frenzied pursuit of greed and power.

As with the drug era

scandal, the fallout will likely once again be widespread and uncontainable through attempts at deflection or by trying to ignore a particular elephant, whom some helped to feed and to whom they gave comfort and licence for many years, not to mention cheap access to Crown Land.

To its great credit The Tribune has continued to diligently report on this story, including extensive reporting earlier this year.

The story went largely unreported earlier this year by some in the media, who mostly ignored it.

Duty No media house can defend a lack of vigorous reporting on such a serious issue in the public domain.

The Fourth Estate in The Bahamas has an ethical and journalistic duty to report with diligence and accuracy on this matter.

The grave matter at hand is not the long running feud between Nygard and billionaire Louis Bacon or mostly a matter of a “fight between two elephants”. The matter now in question will not be easily deflected, sidelined or litigated by a political party or media houses.

On July 15, 2013, this

journal described the PLP’s relationship with Nygard in an editorial titled, “Who Has Taken The Bahamas Back?”

The editorial was written in response to videos on YouTube featuring comments by Nygard.

The editorial noted: “Although the PLP have tried to downplay the Nygard video posted on YouTube in the past few days, judging from comments on social media and the number of tapes e-mailed to us for our information, we do not think it wise for government to continue with its dismissive claim that the matter is of ‘no importance’.

“The matter is of grave importance because government will have to make certain important decisions about Mr. Nygard’s development at Nygard Cay involving the Canadian’s present and future investments there. Some of these developments are bitterly opposed by a large segment of our population...

“During last year’s election, we heard persistent rumours about the Nygard involvement in the PLP campaign. This tape seems to confirm the rumours.

“Mr. Nygard has always been close to the PLP government. We recall him trying to win over the FNM when it became the government in 1992. However, he was rebuffed and so now the video shows him with raised champagne glass, shouting ‘Victory! Victory! Take our country back!’ …

“Mr. Nygard is obviously unaware of our form of government, and fails to realise what embarrassment he has probably caused Mr. Christie. It is now for Mr. Christie to inform him that we are not a banana republic and therefore — contrary to what Bahamians are now suggesting — not for sale, or ‘resale’ as one Bahamian remarked in disgust. … “‘Victory!

Victory!’ shouts Nygard with raised glass as one of the girls kisses him on his cheek and he gives another a high five. ‘We took our country back!’ he shouts jubilantly.”

It was a nauseating display of hubris by someone who used The Bahamas as his fantasy play land, like others in our modern history who saw us a cheap nation for sale, a sad recurring epithet.

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, December 17, 2020, PAGE 9

A senseless death lit a fire which won’t go out G

EORGE Floyd died at the hands and knees of Minneapolis police officers just about six months ago. His senseless death ignited long-simmering protests and counter protests all across the US. Black Lives Matter, the Proud Boys and even Antifa are all now virtually household words, as racial resentment and extremism on all sides of the American political spectrum erupt in dismaying televised images and frenzied political commentary from the left, right and centre.

Floyd’s death also awakened a serious American sociological discussion with potentially profound implications for what still passes for normal daily life in the United States. That’s because the discussion is about the appropriate role of police in a democratic society.

President Donald Trump has been fanning these flames in his own selfish selfinterest. But quite apart from the President’s last-minute

GEORGE FLOYD (Christopher Harris via AP, File)

attempt to portray himself as a law and order candidate, the debate about police and their proper role is serious and ongoing.

Activists all across the US are organizing assessments of their local and state police departments, and in many cases these reviews are concluding that police budgets are fair targets for reduction.

Also, just about everywhere local and state governments are being starved of tax revenue by the deepening recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting shuttering of businesses and loss of jobs.

Police budgets are traditionally and necessarily flexible propositions, inasmuch as law enforcement costs spike in emergency

The final days of Donald Trump’s crumbling empire

P

ROMINENT Americans often join United Nations and other internationally-sponsored missions to monitor the freedom and fairness of elections in foreign countries. Former President Jimmy Carter has participated in many such missions. Now, as the US itself sometimes resembles a fragile democracy after the US President Donald Trump.

November election, here is the report of the Organization of American States on that election: “The OAS Mission was pleased to observe that all election stakeholders had ample opportunities to express their discontent judicially and that their petitions were resolved in a timely manner. This demonstrates the strength of the US electoral justice system.” Very diplomatic of OAS. As if to agree, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Russian President Vladimir Putin have this week finally joined the ranks of those Trump allies who have acknowledged Joe Biden did win the American election November 3. And that Donald Trump lost.

Perhaps even more important was the announcement that Attorney General Bill Barr, a long-time staunch defender of presidential power and authority and more recent Trump enabler, will leave the Department of Justice next week “to spend more time with my family”.

Since the “family” excuse for leaving has so often and for so long concealed the real reasons for such political decisions, no one believes Barr for an instant. There is much speculation that he resigned before Trump could fire him for his failure to uncover or invent meaningful fraud in the recent general election.

One thing is certain. In bailing out now, Barr will miss presiding over the seamy, unseemly parade of pardons for sycophants, allies and other miscreants the President is certain to unleash before he finally departs the White House.

A COVID-19 vaccine is given in California.

(Alan Dep/Marin Independent Journal via AP)

Salvation on the horizon

R

EPORTS on coronavirus vaccines continue to bring good news, although health experts everywhere continue to warn that a return to normal life is still months away.

According to a report broadcast on CNBC, Walgreens, CVS and Costco expect to have shots

available for the benefit of the general public at their stores in the spring.

Walmart is reportedly preparing its more than 5,000 stores for the vaccine, even though the company has not said when shipments may arrive and be generally available to the public.

At last an end to this dreadful pandemic may be in sight.

situations. While budgets can account for the unexpected, law enforcement costs often seem high to the uninitiated – and sometimes to veteran observers.

It all adds up to pressure on police departments and their budgets that hasn’t been felt in many places for decades.

One of those places is the nation’s capital, where the police chief has decided to leave Washington and take over as chief in suburban Prince William County, a politically evolving but still conservative Virginia jurisdiction about 30 miles to the south.

Now, while all sides initially tried to shield from public view the reasons for Newsham’s departure, it is clear that it is directly related to both civilian criticism of policing and budget pressures.

Newsham, a 31-year veteran of the force who was named chief in 2017 by DC mayor Muriel Bowser, has had a tense relationship with the DC city council.

During the summer just past, he accused the council of “abandoning their police force”. He said during a budget hearing that victims of homicide were “getting lost in the conversation” over policing changes, and he decried the council’s intentions to reassess the police role in city society and its large budget as a “knee-jerk” reaction to demonstrators.

Activists were calling for defunding the DC police, with the resulting budget savings better spent on social services. Newsham called the push to defund “a tag line”.

In fact, the DC Council learned of Newsham’s departure next month from a reporter. Council member Trayon White Sr., who represents of the poorest, most isolated parts of the capital city, said in a text message Tuesday night: “I don’t see no one crying about Newsham leaving.”

Ferment over policing is by no means limited to liberal Washington DC. In its often more conservative suburbs and in big cities all over the country, discussions and resolutions continue.

One flash point is qualified immunity.

This concept provides that police officers, along with EMTs and fire fighters and some other government officials, cannot be held personally liable for actions taken while on official duty.

The ideologically ultraliberal Institute for Justice says that “in practice, that means that government officials can only be held liable if a federal court of appeals or the US Supreme Court has already held that someone violated the Constitution by engaging in precisely the same conduct

the only way individuals can get compensation for alleged violations of constitutional rights.

“And prosecutors often resist bringing criminal charges against government colleagues, especially police officers who are crucial to the daily work of prosecutors,” says the IJ.

DEMONSTRATORS in Los Angeles take part in a protest in June over the death of George Floyd. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu) under precisely the same circumstances.”

“Qualified immunity means that government officials can get away with violating your rights as long as they violated them in a way nobody thought of before,” explained a senior IJ attorney. “And that means that the most egregious abuses are frequently the ones for which no one can be held to account.”

Qualified immunity applies only in civil lawsuits—not criminal ones. But such civil suits are usually

After Floyd died in Minneapolis, increased scrutiny of Senator Amy Klobuchar’s record as the city’s top prosecutor led her to abandon her presidential candidacy, quickly disqualifying her from serious consideration as Joe Biden’s Vice President.

Defenders of qualified immunity point out that recruitment for police, EMT and other government positions would suffer grievously if the practice were abandoned.

“We’d never attract the

best and the brightest candidates if they faced such catastrophic personal liability for doing their job,” one big city chief told reporters.

Meantime, Newsham, who will leave his DC position after Joe Biden’s inauguration in five weeks, continues to cope with violence in downtown Washington.

Over the weekend, eight police officers were wounded and more than 40 protesters were arrested as the Young Boys came to town to assail the November election results.

Trump’s supporters - and Black Lives Matter activists who organized to resist them - were clearly both looking for a fight. They found several. Similar confrontations occurred in other cities across the country.

“I’ll bet the politicians and the liberals aren’t too worried about defunding the police right now,” one officer told a reporter during the height of the mayhem.

The debate is widening, to the point that former President Barack Obama got caught up in it over the weekend. He had criticized “Defund the Police” as a clarion call for conservative resistance. Tuesday evening, he explained himself to Trevor Noah on TV’s The Daily Show.

“If we say ‘defund the police,’” Obama said, “not just white folks but my wife Michelle’s mom might say, ‘If I’m getting robbed, who am I gonna call, and is somebody gonna show up’?”

PAGE 10, Thursday, December 17, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

UNCOVERING WHAT’S REALLY AT THE HEART OF BLACK MEN’S LOVE LIVES AND MARRIAGES

THE CAST of The Best Man - but how do the experiences of black men in real life match up to how they are presented in media?

By ARMON PERRY, Professor of Social Work, University of Louisville

economic disadvantage.

I have found that the near-exclusive focus on low-income black men in research related to the family skews perceptions of these men. It also limits the public’s knowledge of them and the meanings they attach to their romantic relationships. And this perception can be used to perpetuate negative stereotypes that frame them as dangerous and predatory.

72. They represented a variety of relationship statuses, with men reporting being single, romantically involved, married, divorced FINDING and keepand remarried. The men ing a good black man in a were also diverse in their relationship has become educational attainment. a cottage industry. From Some had graduate and celebrities and reality TV professional degrees, while stars to social media influothers had high school encers, for better or worse, diplomas and GEDs. The there is no shortage of relamen also varied in their tionship advice to people economic situations, with seeking to figure out black annual incomes ranging men. from $0 to $175,000.

And while much of this In sharing their expericontent is understood to be ences, the men provided for entertainment purposes an in-depth look into their only, some of it is presented love lives. Their discussions and received as legitimate touched on many important In response to that lim- factors that have shaped and data-driven.

This is a problem because ited view, I spent the last their past and current too many people cannot four years conducting a relationships. distinguish what they see study on a more diverse They reflected on how onscreen from reality. group of black men to learn they met their partners Media portrayals are often more about their perspec- and the characteristics that on hyperbolic and sensation- tives made them alised to attract public marriage. stand out The men’s Media portrayals are from previattention. Equally troubling is that the majority of aca- stories reveal often hyperbolic ous partners. demic research in this area important The men and sensationalised also perpetuates many of findings that described the same, negative patterns are typically to attract public their ideal that are common in popular not explored attention. Equally marriage in research troubling is that the mate culture. and black As a graduate student on shared what They majority of academic marriage and university professor, I men. opened up research in this area means have spent nearly two decto ades reviewing these studies about their also perpetuates them. for on black men and families. desire In discussThe general consensus from intimacy and many of the same, ing what negative patterns them falls into one of two companionattracted him categories: first, that many ship in their that are common in to his wife, black men are not viable relationships. one man My find- popular culture. marriage mates because stated, “She many their financial struggles will ings, wasn’t phony. which not allow them to provide of She was comfortable being are counter to the popu- herself, she wasn’t trying for a wife and children.

Other studies conclude lar image that our society to impress anybody. So, it that many poor black men holds of black men, have made me learn to be comreject monogamous roman- just been published in a fortable being myself.” tic relationships in favour book, “Black Love Matters: of a hypersexual masculin- Authentic Men’s Voices on ity to overcompensate for Marriage and Romantic their inability to fulfil the Relationships.”

My study followed 33 traditional breadwinner role. These men, the stud- black men from Louisville, ies conclude, treat women Kentucky, chronicling their circumstances, as conquests rather than personal as well as their attitudes, partners.

In the interviews, many In both historical and experiences and behaviours of the men credit their more recent research, stud- within their marriages and partners with making them ies on black men have romantic relationships. The better husbands, fathers disproportionately exam- data for the study were col- and men. According to ined the lives of low-income lected from over 150 hours one of the participants: men and the struggles they of interviews with the men.

“I always tell her that I The men I interviewed couldn’t have become who faced in maintaining stable relationships in the face of ranged in age from 18 to I am without her. Meeting the right person, to stand with the right person is probably the most important decision I’ve made in my life.”

The men even recognise the ways their relationships serve to combat the negative perception that often surrounds black men.

“The media portrays us as shiftless and violent and not to be trusted. I think when you see a man with a woman treating her well, a man with his children treating them the way they should be treated, it dispels a lot of what folks see in the media. Just seeing positive men doing what men should do is a good thing,” said one man.

Most often, the men talked about how the unique characteristics that YOUR FOR THE FAMILY set their mate apart from others they had dated.

In explaining what WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/JOYFM1019 attracted him to his wife,

RESETTING THE IMAGE

‘THE MOST IMPORTANT DECISION’

CHOICE

one man stated: “I think just how she was able to articulate to me who she was and how she shared some of my values when it comes to children and relationships. It’s just how she carries herself. Her presence made me want to be with her and I never had another woman make me feel like that.”

However, many of these men said they struggle with previous traumas that challenge their relationships.

A detective alluded to the psychological stress he faced in being a black man having to police his community at a time of distrust and unrest, only to come home and have to be emotionally available for his wife.

In one of his interviews, he stated: “I try not to let the stress bother me, but it’s still one of those things.

It just does. Sometimes I’m really withdrawn because I’m thinking about things at work or I’m always working. When it happens, I’ve got to put myself in check.”

Another man wrestled with the realization that many of his former girlfriends had a striking resemblance to a babysitter who abused him as a child.

HAUNTED BY FAILURES

In discussing their fears and insecurities, many of the men acknowledge being guarded with their emotions as a result of some of their early experiences.

Even when they were able to move beyond early negative experiences, many of the men discussed feeling haunted by their friends and family members’ failed relationships.

In these cases, the men expressed concern that their relationships would not last. As one participant said: “I don’t know that many people of colour have seen marriage modelled very well.”

Yet over and over again, in the interviews, men told how they would strive to maintain their relationships in the face of myriad internal and external challenges including racism and early negative relationship experiences.

Given the lack of research on black men featuring firsthand accounts from them, “Black Love Matters” represents a departure from previous work that seems to be preoccupied with implicating black men in discussions of what ails their families and communities.

In lifting up the men’s voices, “Black Love Matters” shifts the focus away from talking about black men and instead talks to them about how they love and want to be loved.

• Originally published on theconversation.com

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, December 17, 2020, PAGE 11

Vaccinations reach nursing homes as California faces crisis POMPANO BEACH, Florida Associated Press THE first COVID-19 vaccinations are underway at US nursing homes, where the virus has killed more than 110,000 people, even as the nation struggles to contain a surge so alarming it has spurred California to dispense thousands of body bags and line up refrigerated morgue trucks.

With the rollout of shots picking up speed Wednesday, lawmakers in Washington closed in on a long-stalled $900 billion coronavirus relief package that would send direct payments of around $600 to most Americans. Meanwhile, the US appeared to be days away from adding a second vaccine to its arsenal.

At the same time, a major snowstorm pushing its way into the Northeast raised concern it could disrupt distribution of the first vaccine.

Nursing home residents in Florida began receiving shots yesterday, after nearly 2,000 such vaccinations were administered in West Virginia on Tuesday. Thousands more are scheduled there in the coming days.

Other states are expected to follow soon.

The elderly and infirm in long-term care have been among the most vulnerable to the virus and, together with health workers, are first in line to get the limited, initial supplies of the vaccine developed by Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech.

Nursing home residents and workers account for more than one-third of the nation’s 300,000 or so confirmed deaths from COVID-19.

In Florida, the longtime retirement haven whose 141,000 nursing home residents are the second most of any state behind

California, eagerness to get the vaccine was mixed with some anxiety.

“I hope it will help me from getting COVID,” said 88-year-old retired schoolteacher Vera Leip, a resident of John Knox Village near Fort Lauderdale.

“I don’t know anything about it, but I would prefer not to have it.”

The home is not requiring its employees to get the vaccine, and only 80 of the 200 staffers in the skilled nursing facility volunteered for the first wave, said Mark Rayner, its director of health services. He said many of those declining the shot are African-American and don’t trust it, given the nation’s history of medical experimentation on Black people.

“They are frightened,” he said. “There is that culture line even as much as we educate them.”

West Virginia, with one of the oldest and unhealthiest populations in America, is working with small and local pharmacies to reach nursing homes across the heavily rural state, leapfrogging states that are relying on a partnership with the CVS and Walgreens drugstore chains to kick in any day now.

Marty Wright, head of the West Virginia Health Care Association, which represents nursing homes and assisted living communities, said the state’s pharmacies expect to get 7,000 doses into arms by the end of the week.

The developments come as as the crisis grows increasingly dire by many measures.

The US recorded over 3,000 deaths on Tuesday for the third time in less than a week, easily eclipsing the peaks seen last spring. New cases are running at over 212,000 a day on average.

And the number of Americans in the hospital with

NURSE CHRISTINE PHILIPS, left, administers the Pfizer vaccine to Vera Leip, 88, a resident of John Knox Village, yesterday, in Pompano Beach, Florida. Nursing home residents and health care workers in Florida began receiving the Pfizer vaccine this week.

Photo: Marta Lavandier/AP COVID-19 hit another alltime high Tuesday of about 113,000.

California is distributing 5,000 body bags mostly to the hard-hit Los Angeles and San Diego areas and has 60 refrigerated trailers standing by as makeshift morgues. The state is averaging 163 virus deaths per day, up from 63 just two weeks ago.

Many California hospitals are running out of space in intensive care wards, as the state records an average of about 32,500 new virus cases a day. That is up from about 14,000 a day at the start of the month.

“Our hospitals are under siege and our models show

no end in sight,” said Los Angeles County Health Services director Dr Christina Ghaly.

In Fresno County, officials said just a few ICU beds remained available and were filling rapidly. To keep up, the county’s hospital system has contracted with a Virginia company to supply doctors, nurses and others to staff a temporary 50-bed facility that will start receiving patients by the end of the week.

In Orange County, health officials planned to send large tents to four hospitals to help accommodate patients.

Bruce Barton, EMS director for Riverside County,

said a couple of hospitals hit capacity in the past week and local officials had to step in to take some bodies.

Hospitals are also under pressure in Arizona, where a record 92 percent of beds are filled, nearly half of them with people with COVID-19.

“That’s a staggering statistic when you think about the things that can afflict people,” said Dr Joshua LaBaer, executive director of Arizona State University’s Biodesign Institute. “And it certainly means that hospitals at this point are having to make decisions about keeping people out of the hospital to keep beds available for the COVID patients.”

In the nation’s capital, congressional leaders said they hoped to seal a deal as early as Wednesday on a package that would extend aid to individuals and businesses and help ship vaccines to millions.

It would include enhanced federal unemployment benefits and another round of stimulus checks.

Today, a government advisory panel will consider whether to endorse emergency use of a second vaccine, made by Moderna.

Meanwhile, officials supervising distribution of the first vaccine said they didn’t expect the winter storm to disrupt distribution.

WIDOW OF GUNMAN CONVICTED OVER CHARLIE HEBDO ATTACK PARIS Associated Press

THE fugitive widow of an Islamic State gunman and a man described as his logistician were convicted Wednesday of terrorism charges and sentenced to 30 years in prison in the trial of 14 people linked to the January 2015 Paris attacks against the satirical Charlie Hebdo newspaper and a kosher supermarket.

The verdict ends the three-month trial linked to the three days of killings across Paris claimed jointly by the Islamic State group and al-Qaida.

During the proceedings, France was struck by new attacks, a wave of coronavirus infections among the defendants, and devastating testimony bearing witness to bloodshed that continues to shake France.

Patrick Klugman, a lawyer for the survivors of the market attack, said the verdict sent a message to sympathisers. “We accuse the executioner but ultimately it is worse to be his valet,” he said.

All three attackers died

in police raids. The widow, Hayat Boumeddiene, fled to Syria and is believed to still be alive. The two men who spirited her out of France are thought to be dead, although one received a sentence of life in prison just in case and the other was convicted separately.

Eleven others were present and all were convicted of the crime, with sentences ranging from 30 years for Boumeddiene and Ali Riza Polat, described as the lieutenant of the virulently anti-Semitic market attacker, Amédy Coulibaly, to four years with a simple criminal conviction.

The January 7-9, 2015, attacks in Paris left 17 dead along with the three gunmen. The 11 men standing trial formed a loose circle of friends and criminal acquaintances who claimed any facilitating they may have done was unwitting.

One gambled day and night during the three-day period, learning what had happened only after emerging blearily from the casino.

Another was a pot-smoking ambulance driver. A third

was a childhood friend of the market attacker, who got beaten to a pulp by the latter over a debt.

It was the coronavirus infection of Polat that forced the suspension of the trial for a month.

Polat’s lawyer, Isabelle Coutant-Peyre, described him as a scapegoat who knew nothing about Coulibaly’s plans. She said he would appeal.

“He knew from the beginning it was a fictional trial,” she said afterward.

In all, investigators sifted through 37 million bits of phone data, according to video testimony by judicial police. Among the men cuffed behind the courtroom’s enclosed stands, flanked by masked and armed officers, were several who had exchanged dozens of texts or calls with Coulibaly in the days leading up to the attack.

Also testifying were the widows of Chérif and Saïd Kouachi, the brothers who stormed Charlie Hebdo’s offices on January 7, 2015, decimating the newspaper’s editorial staff in what they said was an act of vengeance

for its publication of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad years before.

The offices had been firebombed before and were unmarked, and editors had round-the-clock protection.

But it wasn’t enough.

In all, 12 people died that day. The first was Frédéric Boisseau, who worked in maintenance. Then the Kouachis seized Corinne Rey, a cartoonist who had gone down to smoke, and forced her upstairs to punch in the door code. She watched in horror as they opened fire on the editorial meeting.

“I was not killed, but what happened to me was absolutely chilling and I will live with it until my life is over,” she testified.

The next day, Coulibaly shot and killed a young policewoman after failing to attack a Jewish community center in the suburb of Montrouge. By then, the Kouachis were on the run and France was paralyzed with fear.

Authorities didn’t link the shooting to the massacre at Charlie Hebdo immediately.

They were closing in on

the Kouachis when the first alerts came of a gunman inside a kosher supermarket. It was a wintry Friday afternoon, and customers were rushing to finish their shopping before the Sabbath when Coulibaly entered, carrying an assault rifle, pistols and explosives.

With a GoPro camera fixed to his torso, he methodically fired on an employee and a customer, then killed a second customer before ordering a cashier to close the store’s metal blinds.

The first victim, Yohan Cohen, lay dying on the ground and Coulibaly turned to some 20 hostages and asked if he should “finish him off.” Despite their pleas, Coulibaly fired the killing shot, according to testimony from cashier Zarie Sibony.

“You are Jews and French, the two things I hate the most,” Coulibaly told them.

Some 25 miles away, the Kouachi brothers were cornered in a printing shop with their own hostages. Ultimately, all three attackers died in near-simultaneous police

raids. It was the first attack in Europe claimed by the Islamic State group, which struck Paris again later that year to even deadlier effect.

“This is the end of a trial that’s been crazy, illuminating, painful but which has been useful,” said Richard Malka, a lawyer for Charlie Hebdo.

Prosecutors said the Kouachis essentially selffinanced their attack, while Coulibaly and his wife took out fraudulent loans.

Boumeddiene, the only woman on trial, fled to Syria days before the attack and appeared in Islamic State propaganda.

One witness, the French widow of an Islamic State emir, testified from prison that she’d run across Boumeddiene late last year at a camp in Syria and Boumeddiene’s foster sisters said they believed she was still alive. Testifying as a free man after a brief prison term, for reasons both defense attorneys and victims described as baffling, was the far-right sympathizer turned police informant who actually sold the weapons to Coulibaly.

SPORTS PAGE 14

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2020

NFL PICKS

PAGE 18

Don’t Blink Home Run Derby In Paradise postponed

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

O

ne of the fastest growing events on the Bahamas’ sports tourism calendar, the 2021 edition of the Don’t Blink Home Run Derby In Paradise, has been postponed due to the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Professional baseball players Todd Isaacs and Lucius Fox made the official announcement on the latest edition of their Paradise Vibes Only (PVO) Podcast, hosted by Tim McCaster.

Traditionally hosted in early January, the derby has grown in stature to be showcased prominently by several international

media outlets, including the MLB Network, and features both minor and major league prospects from around the league.

“I had some of my friends and some past participants texting me saying how bad they wish they were coming down to The Bahamas this year. It sucks for all of us, we are all feeling it, but I feel like 2021 is going to be our best year,” Fox said. “I feel like the people are going to be missing it that much they are going to be craving it. Everything that we do is going to be amplified, it’s going to be magnified and I feel like we are going to step up to the plate and knock it out the park again like we do every year.”

No new date has been set for the fourth edition of the event,

but both players have pledged that the event will continue its expansion.

“The thing about the Home Run Derby that is so cool for us is that people everywhere are actually starting to recognise us and the event,” Isaacs said. “It brings people from different avenues together, they have so much fun and so much excitement, it’s going to be an incredibly special year.”

Fox added: “We wanted to do something that was easily understood. You don’t even have to know baseball to enjoy it. It’s going to get bigger...We are definitely working. Trust me we have something up our sleeves, just wait on it.”

Bo Bichette of the Toronto Blue Jays won the inaugural event

in 2018 and repeated as champion in 2019. Miami Marlins outfielder Lewis Brinson captured the title in 2020.

In addition to the derby, the participating players traditionally host an annual kid’s clinic at the Atlantis resort in Paradise Harbour for aspiring student-athletes.

In 2020, the partnership with the Charles Johnson Foundation brought with it Major League Baseball’s Play Ball Initiative, the branch of the organisation which hosts children’s camps around the world.

Hundreds of clinic participants were drilled at various skill positions, including hitting, fielding, pitching and base running.

“It was super exciting to partner with Play Ball and we can’t

wait for what will happen in years to come,” Fox said.

“Doing this for the kids, having guys from the major leagues and minor leagues that they watch on TV here present for them to see them, take pictures with them, ask them questions - it’s something we never had. It’s special. We’re just proud to make this event successful for them. It just showed the other kids behind me that it’s possible...hopefully I can make it to the big leagues and inspire the kids even more.”

Community outreach efforts like the kid’s camp remain a mandate of the group for the further development of the next generation of baseball players.

SEE PAGE 15

Walton: ‘I thought Buddy was very solid again on both ends of the court’

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net DEANDRE Ayton was challenged to assert himself physically while Chavano “Buddy” Hield’s defensive progression has been lauded in the NBA preseason thus far.

Ayton finished with four points and nine rebounds in the Suns’ 111-92 loss to the Utah Jazz on Monday in Salt Lake City, Utah, but head coach Monty Williams was more critical of Ayton’s effort against All-Star centre Rudy Gobert.

“DA [Deandre Ayton] has got to enforce and impose his will. He’s got to get in great shape so that he can be as dominant as he was in Orlando and in moments last season,” Williams said in his post game conference with reporters. “Deandre is a physical force, and when he gets in great, great shape, he’s going to show that, but tonight he didn’t.”

Led by Gobert’s 20, Utah outrebounded Phoenix 54-37.

“To watch Gobert and [Derrick] Favors push our bigs around tonight, that was disappointing,” Williams said. “I thought their

CHAVANO HIELD bigs dominated the game,” Williams said. “Even when we had a great possession of defence, we gave up an offensive rebound. DA and DJ [Damion Jones] got pushed under the rim and that can’t happen.”

Ayton enters the 2020-21 season ranked at No.52 in the ESPN Top 100, and had his first opportunity to play alongside new Suns point guard Chris Paul.

“Today was our first time playing against somebody else. Usually you get all summer to play with one another, play pick up.

Today was the first time me and DA had played

pick-and-roll together,” Paul said. “We’re going to figure it out.”

Hield finished with 18 points and shot 5-10 from three-point range in his Sacramento Kings’ 114-113 win over the Golden State Warriors Tuesday night at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California.

Kings head coach Luke Walton cited Hield’s improvement on the defensive end of the floor as a noteworthy impact.

“I thought Buddy was very solid again on both ends of the court, so there were a lot of positives to take away from that,” Walton said post game. “I couldn’t be happier with his defensive alertness and the energy he’s been using on that end of the floor so far since we’ve gotten back together. He’s been much more consistent, he’s been locked into the gameplanning, so very happy with how he’s playing right now.”

Through the first three preseason games, Hield is averaging 23.4 points, five assists and three rebounds per game per 36 minutes splits on 39 percent shooting from the field and 43 percent from three-point range. His assist to turnover ratio is 10:1.

SUNS’ JEVON CARTER, left, and Deandre Ayton, right, defend against Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell (45) during the first half of Saturday’s preseason game in Salt Lake City.

(AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Nesbitt scores season high 10 points in 89-65 win

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net VALERIE Nesbitt scored in double figures for the first time this season and head coach Yolette McPhee-McCuin continues to lead her Ole Miss Rebels to an undefeated record in non-conference play.

Nesbitt finished with a season high 10 points and five assists in the Rebels’ 89-65 victory over Jackson State at The Pavilion in Oxford, Mississippi, on Tuesday night.

The Rebels improved to 5-0 and dominated the other speciality categories as well with a 27-11 edge on second chance points and a drastic 42-20 advantage in the paint.

Through four games this season, Nesbitt is averaging 6.3 points, 4.5 assists, 2.3 rebounds and 1.2 steals in 15 minutes per game.

Ole Miss has scored 80 points or more in four of its first five games for the first time since the 200607 Elite Eight season.

Despite the early success,

McPhee-McCuin said the goal is to continue to build toward cohesive play and a competitive conference schedule in the SEC. After giving up just 40 points through the first three quarters, the Rebels uncharacteristically gave up 25 points in the fourth quarter to the Tigers.

“Sometimes you have to win ugly so I’m thankful for the win but I thought we could have been so much better and we had moments of letdown so definitely need to improve on that but grateful for the win,” McPhee-McCuin said.

“We have to be able to show a level of discipline when we play teams.

Defence is what we do so the fact that we let them score 65 points...I don’t know how I’m going to sleep because that’s not what we’re about, so I just need them to be better.”

This season, McPheeMcCuin welcomed the No.1 recruiting class in the SEC and No.13 class in the nation. The class was highlighted by five-star signees Madison Scott and

VALERIE Nesbitt finished with a season high 10 points and five assists in the Rebels’ 89-65 victory over Jackson State at The Pavilion in Oxford, Mississippi, Tuesday night.

Jacorriah Bracey, and the addition of ESPN’s No. 1 rated transfer in 2020, Shakira Austin.

“Our group is very young, we’re the 10th youngest team in the country so we’re going to have

moments like this,” said McPhee-McCuin. “A part of me wants to give them a whopping but another part

of me wants to just talk to them because we have to grow up and we have to grow up quickly because we don’t have 13 non-conference games, we have seven or eight, so we have to grow up.”

The Rebels will play a game on the road for the first time this season when they face George Mason on December 19.

Following that matchup, Ole Miss completes its nonconference schedule against Jacksonville State before they travel to Colombia, South Carolina to face the No.5 ranked South Carolina Gamecocks.

“I think these games give us the opportunity to get a consistent balance that we can trust in big games,” McPhee-McCuin said.

“I’m trying to get players to embrace these moments and focus on what we need to focus on. At the end of this month, we play the No. 5 team in the country. That’s how we open SEC play.

These games are extremely important for us, and I hope it helps us get the balance we need.”

SPORTS

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, December 17, 2020, PAGE 15

RULING ON RUSSIAN DOPING CASE TO BE ANNOUNCED TODAY LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — The ruling on whether Russia can keep its name and flag for the Olympics will be announced on Thursday.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport said Wednesday that three of its arbitrators held a four-day

hearing last month in the dispute between the World Anti-Doping Agency and its Russian affiliate, known as RUSADA. WADA’s requested punishments include a ban on Russia’s flag, anthem and team name at next year’s postponed Tokyo Olympics,

the 2022 Beijing Games, and other major sporting events like the World Cup. The case centers on a database from the Moscow testing laboratory that was long sealed by Russian state authorities before it was handed over to WADA

investigators last year. WADA found that data had been deleted, altered and added.

That made it much harder to make charges stick against individual athletes believed to have been protected by a Russian doping cover-up scheme.

WITH CURRY BACK, WARRIORS TRY TO MOVE ON FROM WORST RECORD

By JANIE MCCAULEY AP Sports Writer

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Don’t press Steve Kerr about last season. He would rather put it out of his memory and move on for good from the Golden State Warriors’ last-place finish and missing the playoffs following five straight trips to the NBA Finals.

“We’re coming off a horrible season, so we want to bounce back and have a good year,” Kerr said.

“We’re sort of used to the noise, whatever you want to call it. Part of this job is the expectations, the judgment the criticism, the praise. It all lumps into one thing. It doesn’t really mean anything for us as we get started.”

The Warriors are coming off a very long layoff. They weren’t one of the teams invited to the bubble in Florida, so they haven’t played in nine months.

They return still dealing with the news that Klay Thompson will miss another season because of a torn right Achilles tendon.

So everybody is eager for a fresh start.

Especially Stephen Curry, who played only five games because of a broken left hand.

“We all had a down year last year, whether it was injuries or not what we were used to,” Curry said.

A potential upside to last season’s injuries were that young players were forced into action and gained far more experience than they would have otherwise.

“Having the knowledge of our new players from last year will be very helpful in terms of trying to fit

them into the puzzle,” Kerr said.

Golden State also drafted big man James Wiseman No. 2 overall, though he and Draymond Green were delayed by bouts with the coronavirus.

Both returned to practice Monday.

“For what we have right now I love where we’re at,” Curry said. “I love the fact that we have enough pieces, enough talent, enough experience to surprise a lot of people this year and try to compete at the top of the West.”

The Warriors open the season Tuesday at Brooklyn against former Golden State star and two-time NBA Finals MVP Kevin Durant.

CURRY FACTOR The 32-year-old Curry has already said he wants to remain with the Warriors for the rest of his career and perhaps play until he’s 40, but for now staying healthy is a top priority.

The two-time NBA MVP missed 58 games after falling on his left hand October 30 against Phoenix. He returned on March 5 to face the Raptors only to contract the flu and sit out again before the season was stopped.

“We’ve got Steph. That right there makes everything better. You’re talking about one of the greatest players of all time,” Andrew Wiggins said.

Curry and Wiggins, acquired at the February trade deadline from Minnesota, have yet to play enough together to find their groove.

Nobody is too concerned how things will come together as long as Curry is leading the group.

INJURED Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson, centre left, watches from the bench during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Portland Trail Blazers in San Francisco November 4, 2019. While Golden State is still dealing with the devastating news Splash Brother Klay Thompson will miss another season because of a torn right Achilles tendon that required surgery, everybody is eager for a fresh start.

(AP Photo/Jeff Chiu) MISSING eight years. So that part like I’m one of the leaders, KLAY is going to be really tough too, going into Year 7.”

Thompson sat out last for Steph and Draymond WISEMAN’S season recovering from to get past. It’s going to PROGRESS knee surgery for a torn left be hard for all of us to get The 7-foot-1 Wiseman ACL suffered in Game 6 past.” played only three college of the 2019 Finals. He then WIGGINS’ games as a freshman at injured his Achilles last ROLE Memphis, so Kerr knows month while playing on Wiggins played only there will be a big learning his own — a blow for him one game with Curry last curve. and the Warriors. Curry season, so they are eager There was no summer and Green were looking to get rolling. With Thomp- league and training camp forward to having their son sidelined, Wiggins began later than usual — All-Star trio back together. embraces a bigger load. and he was forced to watch “There’s a hole in the “I’ve got to do more. No early on while recovering lineup and there’s a hole one can do what he can do. from the coronavirus. in our hearts, just because He’s one of the best shoot“James has a lot to catch he’s such a huge part of ers of all time. We’ll fill up on, but James’ potential who we are,” Kerr said. that the best we can,” Wig- athletically is so dramatic “Those three guys really gins said. that I imagine he’ll have a are the core of this whole “... Coming into this chance to step in and help thing, what’s been built season I feel the best I’ve us because he’s so athletic here over the last seven, felt ever. I definitely feel and dynamic,” Kerr said.

NBA PRESEASON ROUNDUP KNICKS 100, CAVALIERS 93 At New York, the Knicks rallied after Cleveland led 83-66 early in the final period.

Knox had 14 points in the fourth, including three 3-pointers.

Andre Drummond had 18 points, 14 rebounds and five assists in 21 minutes for Cleveland. The Cavaliers acquired the big man in a trade with Detroit last season. Drummond even sank a 3-pointer Wednesday. He was 5 for 35 from beyond the arc last season for the Pistons and Cavaliers.

Darius Garland added 13 points for Cleveland.

BULLS 124, THUNDER 103 At Oklahoma City, the Bulls took control in the second quarter and didn’t let up. Coby White scored 27 points on 11-of-17 shooting.

Zach LaVine added 24 points in 26 minutes for the Bulls.

Al Horford had 15 points and seven rebounds in his first preseason action with the Thunder, and Frank Jackson added 15 points for Oklahoma City. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 12 points in 19 minutes.

LaVine scored 16 points on 6-for-7 shooting in the first quarter while Gilgeous-Alexander scored 11 for Oklahoma City.

Chicago shot 52% in the first half to lead 59-46. The Bulls’ largest lead was 27 points early in the fourth quarter.

Oklahoma City couldn’t get into a flow, but part of that was because first-year coach Mark Daigneault gave minutes to 13 players.

The teams meet again Friday.

ATP: START OF 2021 CALENDAR INCLUDES DELAYED AUSTRALIAN OPEN LONDON (AP) — The Australian Open is set to begin February 8, three weeks later than planned, as part of a pandemicaltered 2021 tennis calendar released by the men’s professional tour yesterday.

The ATP said that men’s qualifying for the season’s first Grand Slam tournament is being moved to Doha, Qatar, from January 10-13.

That will be followed by a period of about 2 1/2 weeks set aside for travel to Melbourne and a 14-day quarantine period for players and their coaches or other support staff.

A 12-team ATP Cup, the relocated Adelaide

International and an additional men’s tournament will be held in Melbourne to give players a chance to prepare for the hard-court Australian Open.

The ATP said the season will start with a tournament beginning in the first week of January in Delray Beach, Florida. That event was contested in February this year, shortly before the coronavirus pandemic took hold.

There also will be an early January tournament in Antalya, Turkey.

More 2021 calendar plans for later weeks will be announced separately, the ATP said. Other tournaments that will not take

place next year include the New York Open and an event in Auckland, New Zealand.

The ATP is looking for new dates for the Rio Open, which was supposed to begin February 17 but now conflicts with the twoweek Australian Open main draw.

As with other sports, tennis was disrupted this year because of the COVID-19 outbreak, including several months with no competition, the postponement of the French Open’s start from May to September, and the cancellation of Wimbledon for the first time since World War II.

Don’t Blink Home Run Derby In Paradise postponed FROM PAGE 14 Proceeds from the event have benefitted the Cancer Society of the Bahamas, the Sister Sister Breast Cancer Support Group and the Hurricane Dorian Relief Effort.

Isaacs is currently a free agent, but was most recently a member of the Colorado Rockies organisation. He spent the bulk of last season in Grand Junction at the Rookie Level but also received the highest call up of his career when he was called up to the Albuquerque Isotopes of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League.

Fox is now listed at No. 26 in the Kansas City Royals organisation among its minor league prospects.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Fox was set to make his 2020 debut in

AAA baseball with the Durham Bulls of the International League.

In August, the pair joined the MLB’s Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) programme to discuss the development of the sport in the country and the impact of the derby.

“We played a lot of games in stadiums with a lot of fans and a lot of excitement, but honestly, I never felt anything like stepping on that stage at the Derby,” Fox said. “The crowd is really close. It’s not like a regular game, where the fans are in the stands far away. You can feel the energy as soon as you step foot on the beach. And looking out into the ocean, this beautiful water, you want to hit the ball as far as you can.”

Hosted at the Montagu foreshore, the unique

concept showcases the natural aesthetic of the Bahamas and the country’s young baseball talent.

“I’m really humbled and excited for what we can accomplish in the future. It was a lot of fun to feel this energy,” Isaacs said at the conclusion of last year’s event. It’s all about the fans and creating an atmosphere for baseball to flourish in the country.

“The Bahamas is a breeding ground for talent on and off the baseball field and in all professions in the world, so for us to bring this amount of people out and create something for people to recognise the amount of talent we have here is incredible. I’m looking forward to the number of Bahamian professional players to continue to grow so we could have even more competitors next year.”

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PAGE 16, Thursday, December 17, 2020

TRACK CYCLING STANDOUT FABIAN PUERTA GETS 4-YEAR DOPING BAN AIGLE, Switzerland (AP) — Colombian track star Fabian Puerta, the 2018 keirin world champion and a medal favourite at next year’s Tokyo Olympics, was given a four-year suspension yesterday after testing positive for the banned substance boldenone.

The positive result came during an out-of-competition test in June 2018.

Puerta claimed it may have come from contaminated meat, but an anti-doping tribunal from the UCI, cycling’s world governing body, ultimately found him guilty of doping.

The 29-year-old Puerta for years has been one of the best sprinters in Latin America, where there is a small but growing number of track cyclists.

He won gold in the keirin at the Pan American Games in 2011 and 2015, claimed silver medals at the 2014 and 2017 world championships, and won gold at the 2018 worlds in Apeldoorn, Netherlands.

The Tokyo Games, postponed from this past summer due to COVID-19, are scheduled to begin July 23, 2021.

THE TRIBUNE

MLB tells managers to expect on-time spring training start ST PETERSBURG, Florida (AP) — Big league managers say Major League Baseball instructed them to prepare for spring training to start on time in mid-February despite uncertainty around the coronavirus.

Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash said yesterday that officials from the commissioner’s office had a meeting with managers Tuesday and expressed optimism about opening spring camps as scheduled.

“That message has been fairly consistent,” Cash said. “We’ll continue to plan and prepare until if we are told otherwise.”

Managers have said this week during digital Winter Meetings press availabilities that they expect

health protocols to remain in place to prevent COVID-19 outbreaks.

Teams instituted a number of policies during a pandemic-shortened 60-game regular season in 2020 that produced better results as the year went on, largely keeping players and staff safe even as teams traveled around the country.

“I think Major League Baseball was somewhat the petri dish,” Cash said. “We were the first real big sport to really get going outside of a bubble. Obviously if you look at last year’s situation, Major League Baseball, everybody adjusted on the fly. Now there’s more sports that have done things, accomplished things.”

There’s concern that if opening day is delayed, pitchers in

particular could risk overextending themselves by ramping up too soon. “At the end of the day, we have to do the right thing, and it’s always been about the health and safety, well-being of players and fans and everybody included here as we deal with the issues surrounding the pandemic,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said.

“So right now we’re going as scheduled, with planning on playing a 162-game season, but you have to be adaptable. That’s one thing I’ve learned about 2020 and we know it’s going to play into 2021 a little bit as well.”

A vaccine for the novel coronavirus is likely to be made available to teams some time during the 2021 season, and while managers

say they plan to be inoculated, no manager or team has said it will mandate vaccines for players.

Most said they were eager to provide information to players, but not to issue directions.

“I don’t think it would be right for me to point the finger and say, you’ve got to do this,” Cash said.

“We just don’t operate like that.

We’ll lean on the experts to give us as much information as possible so individuals can make the best decisions for themselves and families.”

“I think we’ll have a lot more information and clarity and direction in a couple of months, if and when that conversation becomes a reality,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “I don’t feel equipped to have that conversation today.”

AP INTERVIEW: SMITH LOOKS FOR FAMILY REVENGE AGAINST ALVAREZ

By STEVE DOUGLAS AP Sports Writer CALLUM Smith had a front row seat to see his brother dismantled by Canelo Alvarez in a bruising light-middleweight title fight in 2016.

Ringside at a raucous AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, Smith can recall in particular the accuracy of Alvarez’s punches, the way he maneuvered his big brother, Liam, into a position to drop him on three occasions — the final time with a brutal body shot.

“He finds gaps and holes that you don’t know you’re leaving,” Smith said of the Mexican boxer. “So I knew then, and I know now, how good a fighter he is.”

Four years later, it’s time to take some family revenge. Smith will compete in the biggest fight of his career on Saturday when he attempts to do what only one man, the great Floyd Mayweather, has achieved — beat Alvarez, a four-division world

champion who, for many, is the best pound-for-pound boxer around.

It would go down as one of the most sensational victories in British boxing history, catapulting Smith — an unbeaten 30-year-old fighter from Liverpool — into superstardom.

He would take great satisfaction, too, from taking down a conqueror of one of the siblings from a Smith family steeped in boxing.

And it wouldn’t be the first time: In 2018, he knocked out George Groves, who had previously beaten Smith’s oldest brother, Paul, to capture the WBA super-middleweight title.

“I did it with Groves for Paul,” Smith told The Associated Press in a video interview, “hopefully I can do it with Canelo for Liam.

“It does add a little more to it. There’s a little bit of history there and it will be nice to get revenge, but first and foremost I’ve got a job to do and that’s beat Canelo Alvarez. Any other bits are an added bonus.”

ENGLAND’S CALLUM SMITH, above, knocks down Hassan N’Dam, of France, during the first round of a super middleweight championship boxing match in New York June 1, 2019.

(AP)

Paul, Liam and another brother who is a professional boxer, Stephen, are all making the long journey with Callum to Texas for the fight at the Alamodome in San Antonio. They do everything together — all four have been British title-holders at one point, with Liam and Callum going on to become world champions — and can lean on each other for advice and tips.

And it’s Liam, given his history with Canelo, who has been Callum’s go-to

guy in recent weeks. “I’ve watched every single fight Canelo’s ever had, but it’s a bit different when you get in there with him,” Callum Smith told the AP. “Liam has been in there with him, so he knows little things. Things he probably realized on the night that he didn’t see before.

“We spoke even before this fight was made and we’ve spoken a lot more since.

“He is in the gym with me every day so when I’m sparring, Liam’s on

the apron as well, watching. He’s always there for advice, shots he feels Canelo may throw against me and shots he feels I may be able to capitalize on against Canelo.”

The fight, which is being televised by the DAZN streaming service, will be the first for both boxers in more than a year, since Alvarez knocked out Sergey Kovalev in November 2019 and since Smith earned a unanimous decision over John Ryder three weeks later.

SPORTS

THE TRIBUNE

Thursday, December 17, 2020, PAGE 17

Lille wins 2-0 to stay ahead of PSG

By JEROME PUGMIRE AP Sports Writer PARIS (AP) — American striker Timothy Weah grabbed a late insurance goal yesterday as Lille won 2-0 at Dijon to remain top of the French league ahead of a weekend showdown with defending champion Paris Saint-Germain.

Lille’s win kept it one point ahead of PSG, which laboured to a 2-0 home victory against Lorient after the visitors had a player sent off for conceding a penalty early in the second half with the score 0-0.

Lille’s opening goal in the 18th minute when right back Zeki Celik set up Turkish countryman Yusuf Yazici. Weah, the son of Liberia President and 1995 Golden Ball winner George Weah, then grabbed his first league goal for the northern club. He came off the bench to score with a neat finish deep into stoppage time.

Kylian Mbappe’s 50th-minute penalty gave PSG the lead after a

poor first half at Parc des Princes.

Mbappe slotted home from the spot after being fouled by defender Andreaw Gravillon, who was red carded. Italy striker Moise Kean made it 2-0 10 minutes later.

Lille is two points ahead of thirdplace Lyon, which is now 12 games unbeaten but conceded an injurytime goal in a 2-2 home draw to Brest just three days after winning 1-0 at PSG. Lyon goalkeeper Anthony Lopes scored an unlucky own goal near halftime, when a shot from the right hit the post and bounced off his back before going in.

A penalty from Netherlands forward Memphis Depay and a goal from winger Maxwell Cornet, either side of a red card for Brest midfielder Paul Lasne, looked to be enough for Lyon until Romain Faivre levelled in the 93rd.

Fourth-place Marseille, which has played two games less than the top three teams, missed the chance to move level on points with

PSG’s Kylian Mbappe reacts after missing a goal during the French League One soccer match against Lorient at the Parc des Princes in Paris, France, yesterday.

(AP Photo/Christophe Ena) Lyon when it lost 2-1 at Rennes.

Marseille took the lead with a wellworked goal midway through the

first half. Playmaker Dimitri Payet combined with Florian Thauvin down the right wing and the ball was pulled back to the edge of the penalty area, where Pape Gueye advanced to drill a powerful low shot into the bottom right corner.

But the midfielder was sent off near the end of the first half after he received a second yellow card for elbowing Rennes striker M’Baye Niang in the head as they jumped for the ball.

Rennes stepped it up against 10-men and won with secondhalf goals from defender Hamari Traore and forward Adrien Hunou.

Rennes climbed to sixth spot while seventh-place Lens won 3-0 away to Monaco, with former Chelsea starlet Gael Kakuta among the scorers.

In yesterday’s other games, it was: Reims 3, Nantes 2; Nimes 0, Nice 2; Montpellier 0, Metz 2; Angers 0, Strasbourg 2; and Bordeaux 1, Saint-Etienne 2.

Liverpool scores late to beat Tottenham

By STEVE DOUGLAS AP Sports Writer IT was all going pretty much according to plan for Jose Mourinho and his familiar rope-a-dope tactics.

In fact, as the clock ticked toward stoppage time in the top-of-the-table match at Anfield, Tottenham perhaps deserved more than to be drawing 1-1 with the Liverpool, the defending Premier League champion.

One simple corner changed everything.

Roberto Firmino met a cross from the left with a header into the top corner, and Liverpool was on its way to a 2-1 win that left Mourinho miffed.

“We were so close ... so close of winning, not so close of a draw,” Mourinho said of what he described as “a very unfair result.”

Liverpool didn’t look, he added, “like a team that’s champion, European champion and world champion.”

As Mourinho knows so well, it’s only the result that matters in games like this, and the win lifted Liverpool above Tottenham and three points clear in first place after 13 games.

Liverpool took the lead in the 26th minute through Mohamed Salah’s deflected shot that looped up and in off the post, before Son Heung-min replied seven minutes later after breaking the offside trap and running through unchallenged to score.

Firmino’s 90th-minute goal meant Tottenham narrowly failed to come out of an extremely difficult run of games — Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Crystal Palace then the ultimate test, Liverpool away — unscathed. Still, it was a performance from

LIVERPOOL’s Roberto Firmino celebrates after scoruing his side’s 2nd goal during their English Premier League soccer match against Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield in Liverpool, England, yesterday. (AP) Tottenham that suggested Mourinho’s second-place team should be regarded as a genuine Premier League title contender.

Mourinho will particularly rue Steven Bergwijn hitting the post and Harry Kane heading over from point-blank range at a corner when the score was 1-1. “They’re a counterattacking monster,” said Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, who beat his chest and applauded the 2,000 fans inside Anfield — the only crowd to attend a Premier League match this midweek.

LEICESTER’S MISSED OPPORTUNITY Leicester could have climbed into first place if results had gone its way tonight. Instead, its fourth loss in seven games at King Power Stadium raises questions about whether the team’s home form will

scupper its top-four hopes.

Everton beat Leicester 2-0 thanks to goals by Richarlison and Mason Holgate, completing a strong few days for Carlo Ancelotti’s side after its 1-0 win over Chelsea at the weekend.

Leicester dropped to fourth place, and is only a point ahead of Everton.

AUBAMEYANG TO RESCUE Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored at the right end for Arsenal this time — and spared his struggling team slipping to five straight losses for the first time in its 134-year history.

Three days after his owngoal consigned Arsenal to a chastening 1-0 home defeat to Burnley, Aubameyang rescued a point with a precise finish in a 1-1 draw against Southampton at Emirates Stadium. It was only his third league goal

of the season — a disappointing return for one of the world’s most prolific strikers — and a first in six games, ending his longest run without a goal for Arsenal.

Theo Walcott, a former Arsenal winger, had put Southampton ahead and was the player fouled

by Gabriel to earn the defender his second yellow card in the 62nd. Arsenal also finished with 10 men against Burnley.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta remains under pressure with his team in 15th place.

NEWCASTLE THRASHED Two matches in four days proved too much for a Newcastle squad that has been ravaged by a an outbreak of COVID-19 at the club.

Steve Bruce’s team was overwhelmed in a 5-2 loss

at Leeds, which scored its last three goals in the final 23 minutes.

Newcastle had to postpone a recent match against Aston Villa because of the training-ground outbreak.

The team returned to action — without many first-team players — in a home win over West Bromwich Albion on Saturday, after which Bruce said players were fatigued, and must go again on Saturday against Fulham.

An entertaining game epitomized Leeds manager Marcelo Bielsa’s free-flowing approach, and allowed his side to leapfrog Newcastle in the standings.

Fulham climbed out of the relegation zone, at least for one night, by drawing 0-0 at home to Brighton, while a flying volley by Sebastien Haller salvaged a point for West Ham from a 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace.

ALBA LEADS BARCELONA TO 2-1 COMEBACK WIN OVER SOCIEDAD BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Barcelona defender Jordi Alba scored one goal and set up another to spark a 2-1 comeback victory over Real Sociedad, depriving the Basque Country side of the Spanish league lead yesterday.

Alba cancelled out Willian José’s opener by curling in a strike in the 32nd minute. The left back then helped the hosts take the lead a minute before halftime when he crossed for Frenkie de Jong to score.

The result shuffled the order of Sociedad, Atlético Madrid and Real Madrid, all level on points at the top of the table and separated only by goal difference.

Atlético is now in first place, Sociedad in second, and Madrid in third.

The win by Barcelona boosted its chances of joining the tightly-contest title race. Lionel Messi’s team climbed into fifth place, six points adrift the frontrunners. Atlético has three games in hand, Barcelona two, and Madrid one, in respect to Sociedad.

“I think this was our best game of the season,” Alba said. “It is tough to play without fans (due to COVID-19 restrictions), but playing against a great team was more than enough motivation. Our attitude tonight was great. We saw a Barça that fought for each ball like it was our last.”

While contributing as Barcelona’s main playmaker, Messi was unable to seriously threaten to score and twice failed to find teammates on promising counterattacks.

Fellow forwards Antoine Griezmann and Martin Braithwaite were likewise missing their finishing touch.

Yet the team maintained its intense pressure on defense well up the pitch and moved the ball quickly in attack to keep creating chances. “The attitude of our team was very good, especially when we did not have the ball. The team made a gigantic step forward as far as pressuring to recover possession,” Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman said. “This is the game we want to play. This is the team I want to see. Every player did their part.”

Koeman may have also found a new combination for the heart of defense with Gerard Pique out injured.

Koeman rested centerback Clement Lenglet and opted to align an inexperienced pair of central defenders with Ronald Araújo and Óscar Mingueza. They both performed well against one of the fastest and most talented attacks in the league.

KALULU SAVES MILAN’S UNBEATEN RECORD IN 2-2 DRAW AT GENOA

By DANIELLA MATAR Associated Press

MILAN (AP) — Youngster Pierre Kalulu helped AC Milan maintain its unbeaten league record as his late equalizer snatched a 2-2 draw at Genoa in Serie A yesterday.

Milan appeared to be heading for its first league defeat since March after a double from former Rossoneri forward Mattia Destro had put Genoa 2-1 up. But the 20-year-old Kalulu, who was making his first start for the club, netted the equalizer seven minutes from time.

“This is a Milan team which never gives up,” Milan coach Stefano Pioli said.

“The quality of our performances has been very high, you just need to look at the standings.”

Milan remained top but saw its advantage cut from three points to one over Inter Milan, which beat 10-man Napoli 1-0.

Juventus is third, four points below Milan after drawing 1-1 against Atalanta in a match where Cristiano Ronaldo had

a tame penalty attempt saved.

Milan hasn’t won the Serie A title since 2011.

“It’s right to dream and to be ambitious,” Pioli said.

“The results show that we are a competitive team and that we can play for the title, but then you can’t not consider Juventus and Inter favorites.

“However, we want to be ambitious, we are doing something unexpected, that maybe only we dared dream of.”

Milan was without the injured Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The 39-year-old Ibrahimovic has been out for almost a month but the Rossoneri had still managed to win four of its six matches without its star forward, drawing the other two.

However, Milan appeared to struggle more in Genoa although Ante Rebic almost gave it the lead at the end of the first half only to be denied by a great save from Mattia Perin.

Genoa broke the deadlock two minutes after the interval. Milan goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma

corner but Destro headed in what looked to be the winner on the hour mark.

However, Kalulu scored from close range after a corner had been headed on

by Alessio Romagnoli.

Genoa threatened to win it in a frantic finale but Donnarumma saved Gianluca Scamacca’s acrobatic effort.

AC Milan’s Pierre Kalulu celebrates after scoring his side’s 2nd goal during the Serie A soccer match against Genoa at the Luigi Ferraris Stadium in Genoa, Italy, yesterday. (AP) saved Eldor Shomurodov’s swiveling effort but Destro tapped in the rebound.

Destro spent half a season at Milan in 2015.

Davide Calabria put Milan back level just five minutes later with a powerful effort from outside the area into the bottom left

PENALTY SAVED Álvaro Morata had a golden opportunity to give Juventus an early lead in Turin but his decision to try to backheel the ball into an empty net backfired as the effort went wide.

Federico Chiesa did give Juventus the lead in the 29th minute when he curled into the top right corner. It was a first goal in a Juventus shirt in Serie A for Chiesa, who joined from Fiorentina in the offseason. The 23-year-old scored against Dynamo Kyiv in the Champions League this month.

Atalanta had chances to level and it did so in the 57th. Atalanta captain Alejandro “Papu” Gómez was only a substitute after a falling out with coach Gian Piero Gasperini but was

brought on eight minutes into the second half and had an immediate impact as he picked out Remo Freuler for an absolute rocket in off the underside of the bar.

Ronaldo could have restored Juve’s lead four minutes later but his weak penalty was straight at Pierluigi Gollini after Chiesa had been fouled by Hans Hateboer.

OTHER MATCHES Romelu Lukaku converted a penalty for Inter after Napoli goalkeeper David Ospina had fouled Matteo Darmian.

Napoli also had to play the remaining 19 minutes with 10 men after Lorenzo Insigne was sent off for dissent but continued to dominate and Inter goalkeeper Samir Handanovic came to his side’s rescue several times.

Sassuolo moved level on points with fourth-place Napoli after drawing 1-1 at Fiorentina.

Bologna came back from two goals down to draw 2-2 at Spezia, Sampdoria won 2-1 at 10-man Hellas Verona and Parma drew 0-0 against Cagliari.

SPORTS

PAGE 18, Thursday, December 17, 2020

THE TRIBUNE

PRO PICKS NOT IN LOVE WITH TONIGHT’S MATCHUP

By BARRY WILNER AP Pro Football Writer AFTER the worst week for Pro Picks all season — we looked like the Saints, as in unprepared — our confidence isn’t shaken. Well, not too much.

Having to start with the slumping Raiders hosting the who-knows-what-theyare Chargers is not the most enticing way to rebound.

It’s difficult to find the positives in Sin City — there’s an understatement to some — but clearly Jon Gruden recognised the defensive deficiencies of his team by firing coordinator Paul Guenther.

“We have to do everything better, honestly,” Gruden said of his defense.

“Not just one kind of run.

Inside runs, outside runs, the run game. With that said, you have to stop the play-action pass and we have to stop a lot of other things that have been problematic. We’ve got a lot of work to do, but we have good players here.”

As for the Chargers, sure they beat Atlanta last weekend, with the Falcons pretty much handing over the win.

And they tend to play some better teams close.

Las Vegas, No. 16 in the AP Pro32, is a 3 1-2 point favourite over the No. 26 Chargers. Some lukewarm support for Gruden’s bunch.

RAIDERS, 27-22 KNOCKOUT POOL: At least we got this right in Week 14 with the Seahawks.

That leaves us pulling for TENNESSEE. No. 32 New York Jets (plus 16) at No. 6 Los Angeles Rams Yes, this is a case of piling it on, exactly what the Rams will do to the winless New Yorkers.

BEST BET: RAMS, 40-10 No. 18 New England (plus 3) at No. 13 Miami The Dolphins usually do well at home vs. the Patriots, but they are so undermanned.

UPSET SPECIAL, PATRIOTS 20-16 No. 1 Kansas City (minus 3 1-2) at No. 4 New Orleans It’s unfair to pick this game without knowing Drew Brees’ status.

CHIEFS, 24-21

No. 3 Buffalo (minus 6) at No. 21 Denver, Saturday Think the Broncos regret they ignored that QB in

INDIANAPOLIS Colts middle linebacker Anthony Walker (54) tackles Las Vegas Raiders tight end Darren Waller (83) during the second half on Sunday in Las Vegas.

(AP Photo/David Becker)

Wyoming, Josh Allen, back in 2018?

BILLS, 27-15 No. 25 Carolina (plus 8 1-2) at No. 2 Green Bay, Saturday The Packers have their sights set on that lone NFC playoffs bye.

PACKERS, 30-19 No. 10 Cleveland (minus 3 1-2) at No. 20 New York Giants A letdown by the Browns would not be a shocker here.

BROWNS, 23-21 No. 31 Jacksonville (plus 13 1-2) at No. 11 Baltimore Even with a letdown here, the Ravens should prevail.

RAVENS, 24-16 No. 28 Houston (plus 7) at No 8 (tie) Indianapolis After that Texans stinker in Chicago, why is this spread so low?

COLTS, 30-20 No. 24 Detroit (plus 10 1-2) at No. 8 (tie) Tennessee As with the Saints’ Brees, not knowing Matt Stafford’s status is troubling. So a hedge: TITANS, 30-22 (if Stafford plays) TITANS, 30-15 (if Stafford sits)

No. 22 San Francisco (minus 2 1-2) at No. 29 Dallas This line, with the 49ers so banged up, shows how far Dallas has fallen.

COWBOYS, 20-19 No. 7 Seattle (minus 5) at No. 15 Washington Imagine this: A Washington win has it at .500 in the NFC East. Sorry ...

SEAHAWKS, 20-13 No. 12 Tampa Bay (minus 5 1-2) at No. 27 Atlanta Tom Brady vs. Matt Ryan. No huge comeback needed this time.

BUCCANEERS, 27-22 No. 5 Pittsburgh (minus 12 1-2) at No. 30 Cincinnati, Monday night Yes, the Steelers have some issues after two straight defeats. This will cheer them up.

STEELERS, 30-9 No. 19 Chicago (plus 3) at No. 17 Minnesota Somehow, both of these teams are in the playoff hunt.

VIKINGS, 23-16 No. 23 Philadelphia (plus 6 1-2) at No. 14 Arizona Kyler Murray and Jalen Hurts should provide some entertainment in this one.

CARDINALS, 25-17

NAUGHTY’S NFL PICKS - WEEK 15 THE STANDINGS Naughty

LAST WEEK - 12-4 SEASON - 140-67-1 Wilner (AP) LAST WEEK - 7-9 SEASON - 136-71-1 A solid 12-4 week last week has all but iced it for me, I don’t think old AP Barry can catch me now.

Who can catch me breaking away from Christmas preparations is my wife, my picks column is no excuse! So as the old saying goes ‘happy wife, happy life’ here’s this week’s picks straight up no chaser.

THURSDAY CHARGERS vs RAIDERS CHARGERS 27 - 24 (OT)

SATURDAY PANTHERS vs PACKERS PACKERS 31 - 20 SUNDAY JAGUARS vs RAVENS : RAVENS 34 - 17 PATRIOTS vs DOLPHINS : DOLPHINS 27 - 24 BILLS vs BRONCOS : BILLS 27 -20 BUCS vs FALCONS :

BUCS 34 - 24 NINERS vs COWBOYS : NINERS 24 -24 TEXANS vs COLTS : COLTS 31 - 24 BEARS vs VIKINGS : BEARS 27 - 23 LIONS vs TITANS : TITANS 34 - 20 SEAHAWKS vs WFT : SEAHAWKS 27 - 24

EAGLES vs CARDS : CARDS 34 - EAGLES 27 JETS vs RAMS : RAMS 38 - 10 CHIEFS vs SAINTS : CHIEFS 45 - 34 BROWNS vs GIANTS : BROWNS 23 - 17 MONDAY STEELERS vs BENGALS STEELERS 27 - 10

FANTASY PLAYS: PLAYERS TO START AND SIT FOR THIS WEEK

By BRANDON C WILLIAMS RotoExperts AFTER a long regular season, it’s good to be a fantasy owner in Week 15 with a chance to win a championship.

Although some leagues will decide titles this week, most will be in semifinal mode as the ups and downs of a season like no other have led the fortunate few to the penultimate game.

Consistency is excellent, but those seeking to play for it all next week should be advised to tweak where needed.

START: Tom Brady, QB, Buccaneers: His passing yardage has fluctuated over the past four games, but Brady has also tossed 10 touchdown passes in the same span. He’s in position for a possible huge outing as he faces a Falcons defense that allows the most fantasy points per game to opposing quarterbacks while also ranking 30th in total passing yards allowed and 28th in touchdown passes allowed.

SIT: Deshaun Watson, QB, Texans: The suspension of WR Will Fuller and injuries to others in the receiving group have limited Watson, who has just one touchdown pass in his past two games. Fantasy owners would be wise not to bank championship hopes on Watson, who must contend with a Colts defense that ranks fifth in fewest fantasy points allowed per game to opposing passers.

START: Mike Davis, RB, Panthers: Davis hasn’t

topped 66 rushing yards since Week 5.

However, he’s coming off a two-TD performance in Week 14 and will have a strong matchup in the form of a Packers run defense that allows 4.6 yards per carry (fifth highest in the league) while also being the fourth-worst fantasy defense against opposing running backs. Davis is also an underrated receiver who will enhance his value in PPR formats.

SIT: Todd Gurley, RB, Falcons: Atlanta is largely a running back by committee, as Brian Hill and Ito Smith have reduced the workload of Gurley, who managed just 31 yards on eight touches from scrimmage in Week 14. He’s a solid must-sit against a Tampa Bay defense that has allowed the fewest rushing yards in the league while allowing a mere nine touchdowns on the ground.

START: T.Y. Hilton, WR, Colts: Over the past three games, Hilton has caught 17 passes for 277 yards and four touchdowns. He’s definitely a must-start against a Texans defense that he lit up for 110 yards and a score in Week 13, continuing his career-long dominance over Houston’s pass defense.

SIT: CeeDee Lamb, WR, Cowboys: Lamb hasn’t topped 71 receiving yards since Week 5 and has managed just 126 yards in his past three games despite pulling in 13 receptions.

The targets won’t translate into success against the 49ers, who have allowed the fifth-fewest passing yards in the league while ranking

TAMPA Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady (12) talks to Minnesota Vikings strong safety Harrison Smith (22) after Sunday’s game in Tampa, Florida.

(AP Photo/Jason Behnken) seventh in fewest average depth of target.

START: Logan Thomas, TE, Washington: Over the past two games, Thomas has caught 15 of his 16 targets for 141 yards and a touchdown. He’s been targeted at least four times in each game this season, so regardless of who starts at quarterback, count on Thomas to get a high volume of targets against a Seahawks defense that has allowed a league-high 3,833 passing yards.

SIT: Dallas Goedert, TE, Eagles: New starting QB Jalen Hurts and the return of TE Zach Ertz have slowed his production over

the past two games. With the Eagles showing more of a run-oriented offense, targets could be reduced for Goedert against a Cardinals defense that allows the sixth-fewest fantasy points per game to opposing tight ends.

START: Brandon Aiyuk, WR, 49ers: The rookie has been targeted a whopping 39 times over the past three games, pulling in 22 of those for 289 yards and a pair of touchdowns. If Deebo Samuel (hamstring) is unavailable, look for Aiyuk to continue being the go-to option for QB Nick Mullens against a Cowboys defense that gives up the

fourth-most fantasy points per game to opposing wideouts while also sharing the league lead with 28 touchdown passes allowed.

SIT: Baker Mayfield, QB, Browns: Mayfield has thrown for 677 yards and six touchdowns in his past two games, but it’s best to avoid him this week as he must contend with a Giants pass defense that allows the fourth-fewest fantasy points per game to opposing quarterbacks. Now is not the time to bet on Mayfield remaining consistent.

START: Derek Carr, QB, Raiders: Carr has completed 59 passes for 697 yards and five touchdowns

in the past two games. He’s also become a running threat near the goal line and will be in position to have a big game against a Chargers defense that allows the fourth-highest average depth of target (9.3). Even with rookie deep threat Henry Ruggs III (COVID19) sidelined, Carr will still be able to get his share of deep shots downfield.

SIT: Ty Johnson, RB, Jets: A popular waiver wire add prior to Week 14, Johnson was held to 16 yards on eight carries in the blowout loss at the Seahawks.

The return of Frank Gore also hampered Johnson, who should be considered an afterthought across the board against the Rams, who are the third-most stingiest fantasy defense against opposing running backs.

START: Miles Sanders, RB, Eagles: Sanders snapped a five-game scoreless skid with a pair of touchdowns in the Week 14 upset of the Saints while also earning his second 100yard game this season. The addition of Jalen Hurts at QB should continue to bode well for Sanders against a Cardinals run defense that allows 119.3 yards per game.

SIT: Chase Claypool, WR, Steelers: He hasn’t scored in three straight games while managing a combined 105 receiving yards on 11 receptions. He’s definitely capable of breaking out in a big way, but sitting Claypool feels like the better play despite a favorable matchup against the lowly Bengals.