Students Invited to CPA Roadshow at GT Town Hall Friday (4)

The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) would like to invite the students on Friday, 4 August 2017 at the Town Hall in George Town from 3:30 pm to 5:00 pm. The event will be hosted by the Secretary General of the CPA and will provide you with the opportunity to discuss the issues of concern about your society and democracy, to meet local Members of Parliament and Parliamentary staff. You will also be able to find out about the CPA’s work and the wider Commonwealth.

We look forward to seeing you Friday.

Single Vehicle Accident on Cayman Brac Early Thu Morning, 3 August; Passenger Seriously Injured

Around 3:30AM this morning, 3 August, the 9-1-1 Communications Centre dispatched police, fire, and emergency personnel to a report of a vehicle on fire on Ashton Reid Drive on Cayman Brac, in the vicinity of Bight Road.  Two women had been in the vehicle, but both had gotten out of the vehicle before it caught fire.  The accident appears to have involved only one vehicle.

A passing car took both women to Faith Hospital before first responders arrived. The driver of the vehicle received minor cuts and injuries, but the passenger received serious injuries to her legs.  Early this morning the police helicopter airlifted the passenger to the Cayman Islands Hospital on Grand Cayman due to the severity of her injuries.

The incident is under police investigation and anyone with information is asked to call the Traffic Management Unit at 649-6254.  Anonymous tips can be provided directly to the RCIPS via our Confidential Tip Line at 949-7777 or 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.

Photo:  Picture of vehicle fire on Ashton Reid Drive

Cayman Islands: Product Recall – Alka Seltzer

From Foster’s Food Fair

Foster’s Food Fair-IGA would like to announce that the company Bayer plc is voluntarily recalling batches of Alka-Seltzer due to an issue with the blister foil. A problem with the blistering process has resulted in the potential for small holes or cracks being present in the aluminum layer of the tablet blister material, which are not visible to the consumer. This could result in compromise of the moisture barrier provided by the aluminum layer. Bayer has assessed this defect as unlikely to pose a safety risk for consumers, therefore affected batches are not being recalled to patient level.
Foster’s IGA carries Alka-Seltzer and has been affected by this recall. The affected products have been pulled from the shelves.
The products affected are as follows:

No other Alka-Seltzer branded products are included within this recall.
Customers should check the UPC’s on Alka-Seltzer branded products in their homes to be sure none of the affected product has been purchased. We encourage all customers who have purchased this product from any of our Foster’s IGA locations to return the affected product for a full refund. Please discontinue use of any affected product.
Should you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out by email ([email protected]) or by phone (345-945-3663).

RCIPS Reminds Boaters to Exercise Caution as Tropical Wave Approaches

Starting from this evening, Thursday, 3 August, according to the national weather station, we will be experiencing an increase in rain and wind as a tropical wave approaches the Cayman Islands (see weather report below).   The JMU would like to remind all boaters to exercise caution when planning any trips this weekend and to regularly monitor official weather forecasts over the next several days.

President Trump’s Caribbean estate just got $11 million cheaper

By Katie Reilly From Time Money

The asking price for President Donald Trump’s luxury Caribbean estate recently dropped by more than $11 million.

The beachfront estate on St. Martin was previously listed for $28 million, the Washington Post reported. But about a month ago, the trust overseeing Trump’s assets slashed the price to $16.9 million, Lesley Reed, an agent for Sotheby’s International Realty, told the Post.

The asking price now appears to be closer to what Trump paid for the property in 2013, when it was listed for $19.7 million, the Post reported. The final sales price was not disclosed.

The gated estate has 11 bedrooms, 12 full bathrooms, a tennis court and a pool, according to the Sotheby’s listing.When Trump became president, he placed his financial assets in a trust controlled by a Trump Organization executive and his son Donald Trump Jr. He did not fully divest from his businesses, but he is supposed to be separated from the day-to-day decisions, which would include decisions about the asking price of the St. Martin property. But Trump is still allowed to withdraw money from the trust at any time — which has led to questions about potential conflicts of interest.

For more: http://time.com/money/4882892/donald-trump-caribbean-estate-asking-price/

Cayman Islands IMMIGRATION DEPARTMENT CLOSURE ON 11 August 2017

The Department of Immigration Headquarters, including Passport & Corporate Services, Visa Office, Enforcement and Front Counter will be closed to the public for all but essential services on Friday, 11 August 2017.

Only work permit and permanent residence applications, including applications for permission to continue to work (PCW) that must be submitted on 11 August 2017 in order to allow continued employment, will be accepted.

Time sensitive applications for visitor extensions will also be accepted.

The Department will resume normal operations on Monday, 14 August 2017 and will also remain open to the public until 7.00 p.m. on Wednesday, 9 August 2017.

The Department apologises for any inconvenience the closure may cause.

Cayman Islands: Opening Ceremony of CPA Post Election Seminar for MLAs

WHO: The Speaker of the House, Hon. McKeeva Bush, OBE, JP

WHAT: Opening ceremony of Post-Election Seminar, conducted by Commonwealth Parliamentary Association

WHEN: Thursday, 3 August 2017, 9 – 9.30 am

WHERE: Legislative Assembly

PARTICIPANTS: Minister for Finance and Economic Development, Hon. Roy McTaggart, CPA Secretary-General, Mr. Akbar Khan, Ministers and MLAs

BACKGROUND: The opening ceremony of the Post-Election seminar is open to all while the seminar’s sessions are for MLAs only.

Cayman Islands: CPA Roadshow for Youth

WHO: Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Secretary-General, Mr. Akbar Khan

WHAT: CPA Roadshow for Youth

WHEN: Friday, 4 August 2017, 3.30 – 5 pm

WHERE: Town Hall, George Town

PARTICIPANTS: Cayman Islands Youth, Ministers and MLAs

BACKGROUND: The CPA is conducting Roadshows across the Commonwealth member nations this year to enhance youth awareness of parliaments in democracies.

(GIS)

Cayman Islands: Garbage fees reminder

The Department of Environmental Health (DEH) is urging business operators, owners and strata to pay their outstanding garbage fees and to ensure their properties meet DEH’s standards.

Businesses or properties (including plazas and strata with a central waste-management container) with accounts still in arrears, or that do not otherwise meet the DEH’s requirements, will not be recommended by the DEH for approval to either the Trades and Businesses Licensing Board, the Hotels Licensing Board, or the Liquor Licensing Board, during the upcoming scheduled board meetings, unless all fees and other DEH requirements are in compliance.

All other non-licensing properties/strata with outstanding garbage fees should also promptly settle these arrears to avoid disruption of waste collection services and the implementation of other actions.

Payments can be made at any of the local post offices or at the DEH’s main office at 580 North Sound Road from 8.30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday. In the Sister Islands, payments can only be made at the District Administration office.

To query account balances, please contact DEH on 949-6696 or by email at [email protected]

Cayman Islands: Fundraising Breakfast For Culinary Team CARIFESTA Trip, Contest

The Youth Services Unit is hosting fundraising breakfasts on Saturday, 5 and Saturday, 12 August 2017, to send a culinary team of four young chefs to compete at CARIFESTA later this month.

The public is invited to attend the breakfasts at the Market@Cricket Grounds, George Town from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m.

Breakfasts will be prepared on site by the team. The menu choices of omelettes, porridge or fritters will each be available for a voluntary donation. Fixed price offerings are either stewed turtle ($15) or Cayman-style beef ($12).

Proceeds will benefit the National Youth Culinary team competing in the CARIFESTA Junior Culinary Duelling Challenge in Barbados, 23 to 27 August, 2017.

Hawkeyes’ Big Ten hoops opponents revealed

By Ryan Jaster From QuadCities

Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Penn State and Ohio State only 2-game teams

Image copyright 2017 Getty Images. All rights reserved.

Iowa’s Ahmad Wagner drives to the hoop against Maryland last season.

The Hawkeyes announced their Big Ten opponents for the upcoming basketball season on Monday.

Iowa will play Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Penn State and Ohio State twice each, while also traveling to Illinois, Maryland, Nebraska and Rutgers.

The Hawkeyes host Michigan State, Northwestern, Purdue and Wisconsin in their only matchup up the season with those teams.

Dates and times will be revealed at a later date.

Outside of the Cayman Islands Basketball Classic and the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, the Hawkeye hoops schedule hasn’t taken much shape.

Iowa will face Louisiana-Lafayette, Wyoming and South Dakota State from Nov. 20-22 in George Town, Cayman Islands, and travel to Virginia Tech Nov. 28.

For more: http://www.ourquadcities.com/sports/hawkeye-headquarters/hawkeyes-big-ten-hoops-opponents-revealed/779478691

Jamaica: Clarendon College 75 hails past principals

From Jamaica Observer

Chapelton , Clarendon — Hundreds of past students from Clarendon College returned to their roots on Sunday, July 23 to celebrate the 75th anniversary of their school.

Gathered for a thanksgiving service at Stuart Hall, the school’s auditorium named after its second principal, Claude Stuart, the past students hailed former principals and school leaders.

They marked the occasion with the theme “Keepers of the Flame; Sustaining a Tradition of Excellence”.

Past students were reminded of the work of the founding father Rev Lester Davy who started the school in 1942 and his quote “I shall light a candle in Chapelton whose flame shall never be put out”. A lit flame was kept going throughout the service representing the Davy light.

The school, which was founded by the United Church of Jamaica and Grand Cayman, is referred to as a church school and is still closely connected to the church. General Secretary of the United Church of Jamaica and Grand Cayman Rev Norbert Stephens reminded the past students that they are “celebrating this educational giant of an institution in order to remind and inspire those who now lead…”.

The gathering was reminded that Clarendon College is an institution that sets itself apart, not only in combining academic excellence with high Christian and moral values, but offers as well the principles of social consciousness and civic responsibility, all towards allowing students to become difference-making citizens.

“You have kept the flame of the founding father Rev Lester Davy, ‘I shall light a candle in Chapelton whose flame shall never be put out’,” said Stephens.

For more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/regional/central-news/clarendon-college-75-hails-past-principals_106373?profile=1338&template=MobileArticle

Apple removes VPN apps in China

Jul. 31, 2017 3:44 AM ET |

By: Yoel Minkoff, SA News Editor

China’s crackdown on the internet is continuing with news that Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) was forced to remove all major VPN apps from its local App store, which helps users overcome the country’s “Great Firewall.”

Service providers slammed the move, calling it a “dangerous precedent.”

Already happening? Vladimir Putin passed a law on Sunday banning VPNs that allow Russians to bypass restrictions on flagged sites.

For more: https://seekingalpha.com/news/3283189-apple-removes-vpn-apps-china?uprof=53&utoken=909c39c0e97cd18d9ce5d9eb274fc8e0#email_link

Relocation of Cayman Islands Visa Office in Honduras

The Cayman Islands Visa Office, located at Edificio Caribe Local #203 in La Ceiba, Honduras, was closed at 12pm on Friday, 28 July, to facilitate a relocation of offices.

The office will re-open on Tuesday, 01 August, at its new location on San Isidro Avenue 13th Street, which is the former building of the tax collection agency (DEI) – situated across from Pintaca Protecto Building.

Telephone lines will not be operational during the move.

Cayman Islands removed from Zika Travel Advisory List

The Cayman Islands has been removed from an advisory list, which warns travellers that there is a risk of local transmission of the Zika virus.

The jurisdiction was placed on the U.S-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) list last year when Grand Cayman reported local transmission of the virus.

There have been no locally transmitted cases of Zika this year and just one imported case in early February.

The Cayman Islands Public Health Department has been lobbying to be removed from the list for the last several months and it was confirmed yesterday (Friday, 28 July 2017) that this had been done.

“This is very good news because it means that visitors can come and not worry about contracting the virus,” said Acting Medical Officer of Health Dr. Samuel Williams-Rodriguez. “Previously, we regularly had people ringing up from overseas who wanted to visit, but after seeing us on the CDC list they were worried that they might contract the virus. This was particularly true of people who were pregnant or wanted to become pregnant.”

Zika is linked to microcephaly, a condition in which a baby is born with a deformed head, and other neurological disorders.

Domestic Violence Intervention Workshop on Brac Next Month
The Family Resource Centre (FRC), in continuing its outreach to the Sister Islands, can confirm that next month’s three-day domestic violence intervention workshop will take place at the Brac Reef hotel.
The free training will take place in the hotel’s conference room on 29 to 31 August, from 8.30 a.m. to 5 p.m. The workshop is for front line professionals who interface with domestic violence victims and their families.
For further information and to register contact the FRC at 949-0006 or email [email protected] to register.
(GIS)

Cayman Islands FATCA and CRS reporting deadline extended
The Cayman Islands have announced a final extension of the 2017 deadline for US FATCA and Common Reporting Standard (CRS) reporting to 31 August 2017.
Contact Hatice Ismail, Martin Shah From Simmons & Simmons
The Cayman Islands Ministry of Financial Services and Home Affairs has announced a further and final extension to the deadline for reporting under US FATCA and the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) in relation to the calendar year 2016. All such reports must be made via the Cayman Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) Portal by 4pm on 31 August 2017 (extended from the previous deadline of 31 July 2017).
The announcement stresses that this is a “final extension and no further extensions will be given”. As a result Cayman Financial Institutions (FIs) with reporting obligations should now consider submitting their reports as soon as possible. All reporting Cayman FIs must submit a report, even if they have no reportable accounts. Failure to comply with the Cayman reporting obligations is an offence under Cayman law and may result in a fine of up to KYD50,000.
The deadline for Cayman Financial Institutions (FIs) to register and notify their status to the Cayman Islands Tax Information Authority (Cayman TIA) via the Cayman AEOI Portal remains 31 July 2017. For further details, see “Cayman Islands extends CRS and FATCA registration dates”.
For more: http://www.simmons-simmons.com/en/legal-topics/tax/240717-cayman-islands-fatca-and-crs-reporting-deadline

Cayman Islands: NCVO thrift shop hosts garage sale
The public is invited to support the NCVO at its quarterly parking lot sale set for Saturday 12th August from 6:00am to 10:00am.
There will be several booths of lightly used products including household items, baby supplies, toys, clothes (including select school uniforms), shoes, books, artwork and furniture.
Proceeds from these quarterly sales go to the charity’s children’s programmes and help the less fortunate.
You can support the NCVO by donating lightly used items to the “New to You Bargain Shop”; by volunteering your time or simply supporting the sale.
Stop by to see if you can walk away with a bargain! The NCVO is located at 90A Anthony Drive, off Smith Road (behind the Pines Retirement Home).
For more information on the NCVO’s donation policy or volunteering, please contact Mona, at [email protected] or call 949-2124/526-1078.

Cayman Islands: Bush’s Baked Beans recall

From Foster’s Food Fair

Foster’s Food Fair-IGA would like to announce that the company Bush Brothers & Co has issued a voluntary recall of certain 28-ounce cans of Bush’s Brown Sugar Hickory Baked Beans, Country Style Baked Beans and Original Baked Beans because of potentially defective side seams on cans.
The recall was initiated after the company internal quality assurance checks identified the issue, according to a press release. The company said subsequent investigations indicated a temporary quality issue from one of its can suppliers. The problem was corrected and no other product was affected, according to the release.
Foster’s IGA carries Bush’s Baked Beans and has been affected by this recall. The affected products have been pulled from the shelves.
The products affected are as follows:
• •
•
BUSH’S BEST® BROWN SUGAR HICKORY BAKED BEANS 28 ounce with UPC of 039400 01977 0 and Lot Codes 6097S GF and 6097P GF with Best By date of Jun 2019. BUSH’S BEST COUNTRY STYLE BAKED BEANS 28 ounce with UPC of 0 39400 01974 9 and Lot Codes 6077S RR, 6077P RR, 6087S RR, 6087P RR with the Best By date of Jun 2019.
BUSH’S BEST ORIGINAL BAKED BEANS 28 ounce with UPC of 0 39400 01614 4 and Lot Codes 6057S LC and 6057P LC with the Best By date of Jun 2019.

No other Bush’s Beans branded products are included within this recall.
Bush’s Baked Beans said in a statement that to date, no illnesses or other adverse consequences have been reported in connection with this voluntary recall; however, the company urges you to dispose of these affected products immediately even if the beans do not look or smell spoiled.
Customers should check the UPC on Bush’s branded products in your home to be sure none of the affected product has been purchased. We encourage all customers who have purchased this product from any of our Foster’s Food Fair-IGA locations to return the affected product for a full refund. Please discontinue use of any affected product.
Should you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out by email ([email protected]) or by phone (345-945-3663).

Cayman Islands Water Authority to install new pipeline in Bodden Town

From Water Authority – Cayman

Water Authority – Cayman began installing a new pipeline along Condor Road in Bodden Town last Thursday (20) and the work is expected to continue for six weeks. The anticipated end date is Friday, Sept. 1.

The new pipeline is essential to improve the operational flexibility of the water distribution system.

The project will affect the portion of Condor Road between the intersection with Shamrock Road and the intersection with Anton Bodden Drive.

Pipe-laying works will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday to Friday, and trenches will be backfilled at the end of each working day for safety purposes.

Traffic signs will be erected at the work site, and drivers are urged to exercise caution in the area.

Affected customers of any water service interruptions will be notified three working days in advance of the planned service interruption, via hand-delivered notices.

The Water Authority apologises for any inconvenience.

Hello Fellow Writers,

We are resurrecting Cayman Writers’ Circle! You are invited to attend every Monday from 6.30-8.00pm.

To make it accessible to everyone, we will meet at alternating locations – 1st and 3rd Mondays of each month at St Alban’s Church Hall, 461 Shedden Road, in George Town, and 2nd and 4th Mondays at Sea Orchard Retreat in West Bay.

Bring your ideas and your friends! Please pass this on to everyone you know. Cayman Writers’ Circle Facilitators