iNews Briefs & Community Events
URGENT NOTICE: Water Authority Traffic Advisory
Cuban migrants repatriated from Cayman Islands
From Cayman Islands Department of Immigration
Thirty-nine Cuban migrants – 35 males and 4 females – were repatriated to Havana, Cuba, earlier today.
Officers from Customs, Prison and RCIPS assisted the Department of Immigration with the repatriation.
To date 72 Cuban migrants remain in Immigration custody on Island and are housed at the Immigration Detention Centre or an approved facility.
Road Closures – Cayman Islands National Heroes Day
Please see below information and the attached map describing road closures this weekend for National Heroes Day festivities.
The following roads will be closed as follows:
– from 6:00pm Friday, 20 January until 9:00pm Monday, 23 January 2017 to allow for setup and breakdown:
– temporarily re-opened 12am-12noon on Saturday 21 January
- The top of Fort Street at the junction of Fort Street and North Church Street
- The bottom of Fort Street by the Clock Tower
- Edward Street at the junction of Edward Street and Main Street
- The end of Edward Street, at the junction of Edward Street and Cardinal Avenue
- Albert Panton Street at the junction of Albert Panton Street and Cardinal Avenue
December incident at Cayman Islands school under investigation by police
Police are investigating allegations that a teacher physically assaulted a student at John A. Cumber Primary School. The incident is alleged to have occurred in December 2016 and was reported to police on 11 January through Department of Child and Family Services.
The matter is under investigation and anyone with information about this incident is asked to call George Town Police Station at 949-4222, the RCIPS Confidential Tip Line at 949-7777or via the Miami-based call centre of Crime Stoppers at 800-8477(TIPS), or online at the link: https://www.tipsubmit.com/WebTips.aspx?AgencyID=681.
Gene Cernan, the last astronaut to walk on the moon, has died
BY MARCUS GILMER From Mashable“Even at the age of 82, Gene was passionate about sharing his desire to see the continued human exploration of space and encouraged our nation’s leaders and young people to not let him remain the last man to walk on the Moon,” Cernan’s family said in a statement.
Cernan’s history of space flight is extensive. Admitted to the astronaut program in 1963, Cernan participated in a two-hour space walk as part of the Gemini 9 mission in June 1966, becoming the second American to do so.
But Cernan was also part of the key Apollo 10 mission that set the stage for the following Apollo 11 moon landing. As part of the Apollo 10 mission in the spring of 1969, Cernan and Tom Stafford piloted the lunar module, testing its controls and thrusters, to within eight nautical miles of the moon’s surface in a “dress rehearsal” for NASA’s next mission, when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin would take the lunar module all the way down to the moon.
Although he wasn’t the first man on the moon, he would make history as the last human (for now) to walk the surface of the moon as the commander of Apollo 17 in December 1972. Cernan was also only one of three astronauts (besides Jim Lovell and John Young) to make two trips to the moon.
Cernan and Harrison Schmitt spent three days on the lunar surface for Apollo 17, exploring nearby craters and the Taurus-Littrow mountains, and spent plenty of time whirring about on the lunar rover.
The mission has a few memorable moments, including the Cernan and Schmitt bouncing along the surface and singing a slightly altered version of “Strolling Through the Park.”
Cernan’s last words on the moon were also notable, a beautiful, bittersweet moment. Said Cernan, “What I believe history will record [is] that America’s challenge of today has forged man’s destiny of tomorrow. As we leave the moon and Taurus-Littrow, we leave as we came, and, God willing, as we shall return: with peace and hope for all mankind. Godspeed, the crew of Apollo 17.”
“In that whole three days, I don’t think there’s anything that became routine,” Cernan recalled years later. “But if I had to focus on one thing … it was just to look back at the overwhelming and overpowering beauty of this Earth.”
“To go a quarter of a million miles away into space and have to take time out to sleep and rest … I wished I could have stayed awake for 75 hours straight. I knew when I left I’d never have a chance to come back.”
In all, Cernan logged 566 hours and 15 minutes in space, more than 73 hours of them on the moon’s surface.
But even after his career in space was done, Cernan continued to be a proponent for space exploration, testifying before Congres just as NASA was mothballing its space shuttle fleet.
If you want to hear more from Cernan in his own words, NASA interviewed him extensively in 2007 for an oral history project and you can read it all here.
Additional reporting by the Associated Press
Woman kills two men because they couldn’t get her pregnant
By Lia Eustachewich From New York Post
‘Ice cream killer’ is so dangerous, she’s headed to a men’s prison
IMAGE: Estibaliz Carranza Getty Images
A Spanish murderer dubbed the “ice cream killer” is so dangerous, she’s being moved to an all-male prison to serve out her life sentence, according to a new report.
Estibaliz Carranza, 38, earned the chilling nickname after she shot her boyfriend and ex-husband to death in 2008, cut up their bodies with a chainsaw and hid them in the freezers of her ice cream store in Vienna, Austria.
The Mexican-born Spanish national stored the body parts in ice cream tubs filled with concrete and disguised the smell with air fresheners.
Now, she’ll spend the rest of her life in an all-male prison in Asten, Austria, because she shows an “advanced reduction of the relevant dangerousness,” according to the Mirror.
The prison, which houses 91 men, allows inmates to freely move around and cook their own meals together. Prisoners can also use a lounge area with a TV.
Carranza is one of 13 women to be transferred to the prison.
She carried out the crimes because the men failed to get her pregnant.
She lied to neighbors who heard the sound of the chainsaw from her shop, claiming that the noise was actually a new type of ice cream machine.
Ex-financial controller at Cayman Islands Security Centre jailed
Patti-Jane Ebanks (51), former financial controller at the Security Centre Ltd has been remanded in custody.
Although her sentencing hearing has been postponed until later next month it is inevitable she will receive a jail sentence.
In November last year Ebanks pleaded guilty to stealing around half a million US dollars from her employers over a three-year period.
Cayman Islands National Heroes Day 2017
The public is invited to come out for National Heroes Day celebrations on Monday, 23 January 2017.
Our annual event honours the achievements, traditions and people who have made significant contributions to the tourism industry at Heroes Square in the heart of George Town.
The celebration will begin promptly at 8:30 a.m.
After the ceremony, there will be live entertainment, tourism displays and free refreshments.
US Court approves Caesars Entertainment unit’s bankruptcy plan
From Reuters UK
Jan 17 Caesars Entertainment Corp’s main operating unit won court approval on Tuesday for a plan to shed $10 billion of debt and end a contentious $18 billion bankruptcy filed nearly two years ago to the day.
“It is a monumental achievement,” U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Benjamin Goldgar said at a hearing in Chicago after approving the reorganization plan.
(Reporting by Tracy Rucinski in Chicago, writing by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
For more: http://uk.reuters.com/article/caesars-bankruptcy-idUKL1N1F71C4
Camana Bay Festive Dress Down Day raises over $1,000 for Cayman Islands Humane Society
The Camana Bay office community came together for a good cause, donning Christmas sweaters and holiday wear for a Festive Dress Down Day on Friday, 9 December. The day raised CI$1,169.58 to benefit the 2016 Camana Bay Christmas Give charity, the Cayman Islands Humane Society.
The Camana Bay Christmas Give represents a collection of non-profit activities and fundraising initiatives that benefit a non-profit organisation each holiday season. This year the Camana Bay community voted for the beneficiary charity and the Cayman Islands Humane Society received the majority vote. For more on the Give, visit camanabay.com/holidays.
Cayman Islands National Culture and Heritage Policy and Strategic Plan
The Ministry of Health & Culture and the steering committee behind the creation of the draft Cayman Islands’ first National Culture and Heritage Policy and Strategic Plan are currently in their public consultation phase for the historic draft document.
Members of the public, who would like to know more, ask questions, or share any concerns regarding the policy are invited to attend the open house sessions.
· Little Cayman – Thursday, 19 January 2017 – at the National Trust House from 11:30am – 1:00pm
· Cayman Brac – Thursday, 19 January 2017 – at the Aston Rutty Centre from 5:30pm – 7:30pm
Feedback received during the public consultation period will be used to guide Cabinet in finalising the new policy. For more information, please “like” the Ministry of Health & Culture, Cayman Islands Government, Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MinistryHealthCultureCaymanIslands/
Also, visit the website: http://www.ministryofhealth.gov.ky/culture-policy to access the draft policy and strategic plan document and feedback form.
Lucasfilm responds to Star Wars rumors
Jan. 15, 2017 9:26 AM ET|By: Yoel Minkoff, SA News Editor
Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS)-owned Lucasfilm has no plans to digitally recreate film performances of the late actress Carrie Fisher, best known for her role as Princess or General Leia Organa, in upcoming installments of the blockbuster series.
Such technology was utilized in the newly released Rogue One, in which a digital embodiment of Peter Cushing, who died in 1994, returned for the role of the Grand Moff Tarkin.
For more: http://seekingalpha.com/news/3235309-lucasfilm-responds-star-wars-rumors?uprof=53#email_link
IMAGE: Tarkin (Peter Cushing) confronts Leia (Carrie Fisher) in ‘A New Hope’ (Lucasfilm)
Cayman Islands bids farewell to Waving Gallery
Waving Gallery Farewell
Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands (13 January 2017) The Cayman Islands Airports Authority (CIAA) would like to invite the public to an event to mark the closing of the popular waving gallery at Owen Roberts International Airport on Tuesday, 17 January from 4:00pm-6:00pm. Light refreshments will be served and the public will have the opportunity to take photos from the waving gallery before the area is closed off.
The closure of the gallery is part of the ongoing airport expansion and redevelopment project and is necessary in order for the CIAA to comply with international security regulations.
Cayman Keswick Sun – Fri Jan 15 – 20 Jan
Trinidad: Body of school girl found in bushes
From Caribbean News Service
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Jan 14 2017 – Police have recovered the body of a 16-year-old secondary school student a few hours after she left for school in Central Trinidad on Friday.
Police said that the body of Rachael Ramkissoon, a pupil at Northeastern College in Sangre Grande, bore several marks on her face, chest and legs.
The form four pupil was wearing her white shirt and black pleated skirt school uniform and was due to have sat an examination on Friday.
The authorities say they are awaiting the result of an autopsy to be done Monday.
For more on this story go to: http://caribbeannewsservice.com/now/body-of-school-girl-found-in-bushes/
Kingston Properties acquires building in Cayman Islands
From RJR News
IMAGE: Garfield Sinclair, Chairman of Kingston Properties Limited
Kingston Properties has completed the acquisition of a fully tenanted, mixed use building located in the West Bay Beach South area in the Cayman Islands.
This acquisition is part of their strategy to continue to broaden the geographic reach as well as diversify the mix of property types in their portfolio.
For more: http://rjrnewsonline.com/business/kingston-properties-acquires-building-in-cayman-islands
St Lucia Airport reopened after minor incident
By SNO Staff
IMAGE: George F. Charles Airport. * panoramio.com
The runway at the George F.L. Charles Airport was closed for about 40 minutes this afternoon, Jan. 12 after a single-engine aircraft’s landing gear issue, airport officials have confirmed.
Head of Airports Lambert Remy told St. Lucia News Online (SNO) that around 1:45 p.m., a French-registered PA-32 Cherokee Six light aircraft busted a tire while landing.
Two persons, including the pilot, were on board the fixed-landing-gear aircraft at the time of the incident.
No one was hurt.
Remy said the private aircraft flew in from neighbouring Dominica.
St. Lucia Air and Seaports Authority Communications Officer Grace Herman told SNO that the aircraft was removed and repairs were being carried out.
For more: https://www.stlucianewsonline.com/airport-reopened-after-minor-incident/
Cayman Islands Smoking Cessation Classes: ‘I Can Quit’
The Public Health Department reminds smokers who wish to quit the habit that there are still some spaces left for the upcoming smoking cessation classes the department is offering. Classes start on 8 February 2017 from 5.15 p.m. to 6.45 p.m. every Wednesday for seven weeks in the Public Health waiting room.
Registration deadline is 27 January 2017.
For more information or to sign up, contact the Public Health Department on 244-2889/244-2621, or email [email protected] or [email protected]
Cayman Islands Christmas Tree Recycling Dates in 2017
Recycle Real Christmas Trees
Christmas trees can be recycled and turned into mulch after the festive season to save them from going into the landfill.
The trees, which must be real rather than artificial, can be dropped off at containers in each community from 1 to 20 January before being mulched on Saturday, 21 January at George Town cricket field.
Members of the public are welcome to watch the trees being mulched by the industrial wood grinding machine, known as the “Beast”, which was recently purchased by the Department of Environmental Health (DEH).
The mulch is available free of charge to anyone who brings their shovel or rake and bags to collect it from the field, and is ideal for spreading around garden plants to enrich and insulate the soil. The processing begins at 7 a.m., with the mulch given away on a first-come first-served basis.
Containers to collect discarded Christmas trees will be placed at Ed Bush Stadium in West Bay, George Town cricket field, Spotts dock and the southern entrance to Frank Sound Road.
The mulching project is part of an enhanced recycling initiative to divert waste from going into the landfill. Recycling is also central to the proposed Integrated Solid Waste Management System (ISWMS), which is currently in the first stage of the procurement phase, with government aiming to have a contract in place, in principle, by spring 2017.
Last year, more than 1,800 Christmas trees were processed by the “Beast”, resulting in around two-and-a-half dump-truck loads of mulch, which was also given away at no cost.
“This process of recycling the trees is a great way to save space at the landfill and is ideal material for people to spread in their gardens and yards at no cost other than coming to collect it,” said DEH’s Recycling Foreman of Solid Waste Angello Roye.
For further information about the Christmas tree recycling programme, contact DEH’s Solid Waste unit at 949-8793.
Free Vegetable Seedlings Offered to Cayman Islands residents
Residents with green thumbs are invited to obtain free seedlings, as a limited stock of cabbage, cucumber, bok choy (Chinese cabbage), cauliflower, broccoli and other plants are offered to the public by the Department of Agriculture (DoA).
This initiative seeks to stimulate interest amongst backyard gardeners in growing quality produce, and ideally will lead to more entries and participation in the Cayman Islands Agriculture Society 50th Agriculture Show next year.
There are twelve types of these vegetable seedlings available, and they may be collected from the DoA Nursery, at 181 Lottery Road, Lower Valley.
One More Cayman Islands Public Holiday for 2017
With the Elections Office’s schedule for the General Elections formally approved by the Governor this morning (Friday, 9 December 2016), one more public holiday has been officially declared for the Cayman Islands in 2017.
General Elections Day on Wednesday, 24 May 2017 will be a public holiday, bringing the number of public holidays for next year to 12 days.
The full list of public holidays for 2017 now is:
Monday, 2 January – New Year’s Day (observed)
Monday, 23 January – National Heroes Day
Wednesday, 1 March – Ash Wednesday
Friday, 14 April – Good Friday
Monday, 17 April – Easter Monday
Monday, 15 May – Discovery Day
Wednesday, 24 May – General Elections Day
Monday, 19 June – Queen’s Birthday
Monday, 3 July – Constitution Day
Monday, 13 November – Remembrance Day
Monday, 25 December – Christmas Day
Tuesday, 26 December – Boxing Day.
Education begins on Cayman Islands Single Member Constituencies
The Elections Office invites the public, including voters, potential candidates and their agents in the 2017 General Election, to learn more about recent changes to the Elections Law that created 19 single member electoral districts.
Interested persons may email [email protected] to ask questions, or request short presentations for groups or organisations.
The public should also stay tuned to local media for information on upcoming meetings, which will aim to address any questions that people may have about the transition.
COMMUNITY EVENTS (Date Order)
JAN 16 – FEB 6
Every Step Counts Pedometer Challenge
The Every Step Counts Pedometer Challenge runs January 16th through February 6th. For more, head to caymanactive.com.
SAT JAN 21
Annual Cayman Brac Sock Hop Fundraiser
SUN JAN 22
Water Authority Traffic Advisory
Generali Worldside Mercuryman Triathlon
The Generali Worldside Mercuryman Triathlon is Sunday (22 Jan). Find out more by visiting mercurymantri.com.
Family Fun Day at Botanic Park
Jubilee Services
MON JAN 23
Lions Club of Cayman Brac Corporate Cup Relays
WED JAN 25
Robert Burns Poetry Night
FRI JAN 27
Smoking cessation classes
SAT JAN 28
Cayman National Charity Walk-Run
The Cayman National Charity Walk-Run 5 & 10K is Saturday (28 Jan) at 630am. For more, head to caymanactive.com.
Taste of Cayman Volunteers
Volunteers are wanted for Taste of Cayman on January 28th. To register, visit tasteofcayman.org/volunteers1.
Black Light Zumba Night
SUN JAN 29
Stride Against Cancer
Stride Against Cancer is this month. On Sunday (29 Jan) the event moves to Seven Mile Public Beach with a 13.1 Mile half marathon at 6am or a 6.5 mile run at 7am. Folks can participate in North Side at Kaibo or at the Brac Reef Beach Resort at 7am. For more, head to caymanactive.com
MON JAN 30
Calling all Food, Craft, Specialty Item Vendors or Artists
Calling all Food, Craft, Specialty Item Vendors or Artists we invite you to display or sell your goods at Red Sky at Night on Saturday 25th February 2017 from 4:00pm until midnight. Red Sky at Night is a multi-disciplinary, multi-cultural arts fair which showcases the broad array of talent tin Cayman. The vendor registration deadline is: Monday 30th January 2017.
Register by emailing us your participation details to: [email protected]
Please call if you have any questions and we would be happy to assist: 949-5477.
TUE JAN 31
Cadet Corps Band Open for Recruiting
The Cayman Islands Cadet Corps Band is open for recruitment to young people from the age of 11 – 18 who are enrolled in school. They also welcome adults who play an instrument and would love to work with young people. Please call 946-9810 or email [email protected] for more details
PSPB Certificates
The Public Service Pensions Board would like to remind its pensioners that their Annual Pension Continuation Certificates have been distributed through the mail and are due to be returned to the PSPB no later than January 31st to ensure continuity of benefits. If you have not received your PCCC form please feel free to drop by the PSPB office located on the 1st floor of the Government Administration Building to address this matter. If you are a shut-in or have care or control over a pensioner who is unable to be transported to the PSPB office, please call 945-8175 or 244-7104/7123 for special assistance.
FRI FEB 24
Register for Dress For Culture Day
Host a dress down day at your business or school on Friday 24th February (or your preferred date!) and have everyone wear clothing that reflects their culture(s). Whether it be football jerseys or traditional costumes, all forms of cultural dress are welcome! We ask that each participant makes the suggested donation ($3 students or $5 adults) or more, which will directly support youth arts programming in the Cayman Islands.
Friday 24th February 2017
Adults $5 & Students $3
Register your school or business to participate by completing our Registration Form or email your participation details to: [email protected]
Please call if you have any questions and we’ll be happy to assist: 949-5477
SAT FEB 25
Red Sky at Night
Red Sky at Night is a multi-disciplinary arts fair now in it’s 5th year with approximately 2,000+ in attendance each year. If you are engaged in any form of the arts, we invite you to get involved. All special talents are welcome and whether you have been performing for years or you consider yourself an up-and-coming talent, we encourage you to be a part of this year’s festival.
Event: Red Sky at Night
Event Date: Saturday 25th February 2017 – 4:00 p.m. – midnight
SUN FEB 26
Cayman Islands Lion’s – Cycle For Sight
Cayman Islands Cycling Association
Sunday 26th Feb 2017 6:00AM – 9:00AM
Event Description:
Lion’s Cycle For Sight – Change the way we see the world Start: East End Public Beach | Finish: Lions Community Center – 24 Miles
