iNews Briefs
Cayman Islands Special Olympics star murder case adjourned
The trial of Jose Guadelupe Sanchez (27) for the murder and possession of an unlicensed firearm of Solomon Webster (24) was adjourned for 5 weeks at the request of his counsel.
Sanchez is accused of shooting Webster, a Cayman Islands Special Olympic gold medal winner in the groin causing his death, on Sunday 7th September in Miss Daisy Lane, West Bay at approx. 8-30pm.
Sanchez has not yet answered the charges against him.
The police have said they have no reason to believe Webster’s killing was gang related.
Two other men, Graham David Lauer (60) and Blake Christopher Barrell (30), have also been charged with accessory after the fact. They are alleged to have assisted Sanchez to evade the authorities after the shooting.
They were both granted bail in the summary court recently.
Sanchez is currently remanded in custody to HMP Northward.
Bernie Madoff’s last-surviving son was accused of being involved in his father’s multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme before he died of cancer
Reports: Daily Mail From Farrah Gray
Bernard Madoff’s last surviving son was under investigation for possible involvement in his father’s multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme until the day he died from cancer earlier this month, it has been revealed.
The court-appointed trustee seeking to recover money for bilked investors began taking aim at Andrew Madoff’s $16 million estate which he left his fiancee, ex-wife and daughters, even before his death.
Cayman Islands immigration department acts as a recruitment agency
Because of the demand for overseas workers in the Cayman Islands, their Immigration Department has become, not of their own choosing, a government recruiting agency. They have to make the final decision on every foreign worker who has been recruited for ALL jobs – from the lowest paid up to the highest.
At the presentation last Friday (26) at the National Workforce Development Agency (NWDA), Winston Connolly, the Councillor in the Ministry of Employment, said, “Immigration should be about border control and the NWDA should be the central body that deals with the employment, training and the work permit side of things in terms of people coming in and applying for jobs.”
He also added immigration should be concerned only with the security questions surrounding imported workers.
Minister for Employment, Tara Rivers admitted transitioning the NWDA to deal with the recruitment process for permit applications would require a considerable amount of work and resources, however it was something she would hope to achieve during her tenure.
Transitioning the NWDA as the clearinghouse for permits would require new legislation and a government restructure, she added.
The NWDA wanted to make it clear they help persons find jobs and have nothing to with granting work permits
Victory! Wyoming’s wolves just got Federal protection back
By Alicia Graef From care 2
In a victory for gray wolves in Wyoming, a federal judge reinstated federal protection under the Endangered Species Act, which just made life harder for anyone who had their sights set on killing them.
Wyoming had been fighting to get the authority to manage wolves since 2003, but kept getting denied over its failure to come up with a reasonable plan. Unfortunately, the state finally succeeded in 2012 after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) determined that their numbers had rebounded enough to take federal protection away.
Under the state’s plan, wolves were declared a trophy-game animal, which allowed for seasonal hunting and trapping, and a predator that could be shot on sight in unlimited numbers in more than 80 percent of the state. According to the Center for Biological Diversity, 219 wolves have been killed under Wyoming’s management since the delisting.
Environmental groups including Earthjustice, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Defenders of Wildlife, the Sierra Club, and the Center for Biological Diversity challenged the 2012 ruling in court, arguing that the state’s management plan ultimately failed to ensure their future survival.
“Any state that has a wolf-management plan that allows for unlimited wolf killing throughout most of the state should not be allowed to manage wolves,” said Defenders of Wildlife president and CEO Jamie Rappaport Clark.
While U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson supported the determination that wolves aren’t in danger of extinction in the state, she ultimately ruled that the state’s plan was inadequate and unenforceable and that it was “arbitrary and capricious” of federal officials to accept it, relying on the state’s nonbonding promises to maintain a particular number of wolves.
2 youths were car racing on Cayman public road when one crashed and was killed
Igor Domladis (24) pleaded guilty to causing the death of his friend Zac Quappe (21) by dangerous driving when the cars slid into each other in South Sound near the Sand Cay condominiums in May 2013.
Dolmadis and his female passenger sustained only minor injuries. Quappe was pronounced dead a few hours after the crash.
Quappe was driving a Ford Taurus and Dolmadis’ Mitsubishi Lancer. Both cars ran off the road. Quappe’s car collided with a concrete column and Dolmadis’ hit a rock wall by the condominiums and a parked Honda CRV in the parking lot.
Dolmadis was bailed to return a hearing on 27th November after a social enquiry report has been executed.
Bid adieu to ‘Airplane Mode’ on European airlines
By Nicole Lee From engadget
Want to continue that scintillating game of Words with Friends throughout the entire flight? Well, that might soon be a possibility if you’re flying in European airspace. Late last year, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) had decided to permit personal electronics like smartphones and tablets to remain on during takeoff and landing as long as it was in “Airplane Mode.” Now, even that restriction has been lifted. Yep, the EASA has deemed “Airplane Mode” no longer necessary, thus allowing for true “gate-to-gate” electronics use. Of course, even if the EASA permits it, each airline will still have to take an assessment test to make sure it won’t negatively affect aircraft communications. Turning off Airplane Mode is still a no-no for US flights, though most airlines do let you use your gadgets during takeoff and landing thanks to last year’s FAA ruling. Maybe if Airplane Mode becomes unnecessary some day, we’ll rename it to something that makes more sense, like “The Mode that Doesn’t Suck Up All Your Battery.”
For more: http://www.engadget.com/2014/09/27/airplane-mode-europe/?ncid=rss_truncated
Cayman Islands Conch Shell house up for sale
The Cayman Islands Conch Shell house is up for sale for $545,000.
The house was built using 4,000 conch shells in the 1930’s collected from Barker’s Beach in West Bay and is currently being used by Cayman Hospice Care.
Venezuela announces ‘temporary occupation’ of US firm Clorox
From Business Insider
Caracas (AFP) – The Venezuelan government announced it was temporarily taking control of a Clorox factory, after the US-based firm said this week it was leaving the country and selling its assets.
Vice President Jorge Arreaza was accompanied by a dozen workers as he entered the plant with the slogan “Chavez lives, the struggle continues,” in reference to late president Hugo Chavez.
“The government of President Nicolas Maduro is temporarily occupying these facilities,” Arreaza said from the plant in the central city of Valles del Tuy, in comments broadcast on state television VTV.
California-based Clorox, which began operations in Venezuela in 1990, announced this week it was leaving the Venezuelan market, citing “operational restrictions” and “economic uncertainty.”
Company representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Venezuela, which has been governed by strict exchange rate controls for a decade, has experienced a currency drought since late 2012.
Caracas requires companies to sell products in bolivars, the national currency, on the government promise to reimburse them in dollars.
With the controls in place since 2003, Venezuela is only providing US dollars at the official rate of 6.3 bolivars to importers of designated priority goods such as food and medical supplies.
In the past eight years, the Venezuelan government has stepped into private companies as part of a state policy to reclaim land or a sector considered unproductive or seen as speculating.
Cayman Islands Health City saves life of heart attack victim on holiday
Quick actions by a son, who is paramedic and the care from Health City Cayman Islands saved Ric Walton’s life.
Ric was with his family, on vacation, and out on a tour boat at Stingray City when he collapsed on the bow of the boat suffering a heart attack.
The captain turned the boat around, called 911 and whilst the son started CPR Ric’s daughter-in-law performed mouth to mouth. His wife, Charlotte, prayed and tried to talk to her husband who was unresponsive.
An ambulance arrived, shocking Ric several times with a defibrillator and transported him to Health City where he recovered.
Charlotte said Health City’s care went above and beyond her expectations especially of the kindness they received from them.
Killer Paul Chadwick ‘wants victim’s £80k estate’
From BBC
Paul Chadwick said his partner Lisa Clay would have wanted him to have the cash
A man who was detained in a mental health unit for stabbing to death his partner and their child is laying claim to £80,000 from her estate.
The bodies of Lisa Clay and Joseph Chadwick were found at their home in Bolton-le-Sands, Lancashire last year.
Paul Chadwick, 35, told Manchester’s High Court his partner would have wanted him to inherit the cash but he was not motivated by money.
Miss Clay’s family are contesting the claim.
Chadwick, formerly of Lowlands Road, admitted two counts of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and was sentenced at Preston Crown Court in October to an indefinite hospital order.
Chadwick, who also attempted to kill himself before Miss Clay and Joseph’s bodies were discovered, has been allowed out of a secure mental health unit to argue his case.
Miss Clay had made a will in which she said all her assets would transfer to Chadwick in the event of her death.
The law states those convicted of murder or manslaughter cannot inherit from their victims or profit in any way from their crimes.
However, the rules can be modified to take into account the conduct of the offender, the deceased and any other relevant material concerned.
Chadwick told the court “money means nothing” to him.
“It’s not about benefiting, he said. “I was unwell. At the time it was not my actions, it was not me.”
For more: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-lancashire-29307119
Bahama Breeze franchise takes on Cayman rum
Locally distilled Cayman Islands Seven Fathoms award winning rum will be featured at 200 Bahama Breeze Rumtoberfest” events scheduled throughout all of the restaurant’s U.S. locations.
Bahama Breeze has 37 locations in 15 states across the continental U.S.
Farmers warned deadly virus could damage Jamaica pig industry
From Caribbean360
KINGSTON, Jamaica, Tuesday September 30, 2014, CMC – The Jamaica Pig Farmers Association (JPFA) is urging farmers not to dismiss lightly, a deadly virus first diagnosed in the United States last year that could severely damage the local pig industry.
JPFA president Delroy Manya said his organization has been holding several meetings with the Veterinary Services Division of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and updating members on the virus blamed for the deaths of more than seven million pigs in the United States since it was detected in April last year.
He said the Veterinary Services Division has made presentations on the various bio-security measures that pig farmers must implement to prevent the Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus (PEDv) from spreading to Jamaica.
Chief Executive Officer of Jamaica Broilers Group, Chris Levy, has also warned farmers not to take the threat of the virus lightly as it has also spread rapidly across Canada resulting in a pork shortage.
Mexico and the Dominican Republic are also reporting cases of the virus.
Decriminalisation of homosexuality is still off the cards in Trinidad & Tobago
From Antilean Media group
Government will not decriminalise homosexuality without a mandate from a referendum, but contends that a referendum is not “legally possible”
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad & Tobago, September 27 — Trinidad & Tobago’s criminalisation of men who have sex with men (MSM) will remain in legal force for the foreseeable future of the People’s Partnership government.
Word of this came from Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, who insists that the question of decriminalisation should be considered by the people of Trinidad & Tobago, and not her government.
Her remarks came in response to a question posed by Lakshmi Singh, an NPR journalist, at a Trinidad & Tobago Investment Conference in Manhattan, New York. Singh pressed Persad-Bissessar for a response on the issue in light of an increased gay-rights lobby for the decriminalisation of same-sex relations in the Caribbean.
“I think this is an issue that is not for the Government to decide at this time in our country. It is an issue that the people must decide and… therefore may require a referendum to get the views of the people. Our personal views are not good enough”, the Prime Minister said.
The Prime Minister noted that proposals to decriminalise MSM had previously been included in a draft national gender policy by the former Patrick Manning-led government, but that the policy “failed to see the light of day” due to rife opposition. Persad-Bissessar said that she was met with even further opposition when her government later picked up the same policy to disseminate for discussion – particularly from the islands’ Roman Catholic groups.
No-go on referendum: Despite affirming that her Government will not decriminalise homosexuality without a mandate from citizens, the Prime Minister further claims that her Government can not instigate a referendum process either.
“It’s not legally possible”, Persad-Bissessar said in response to questions from journalists on the legality of a national vote. The Prime Minister, herself a Senior Counsel, did not clarify her views on the legal impediments to a referendum, but further told journalists that it would not be “prudent” for the Government to head in that direction at this time.
“There’s no consensus on an issue as sensitive as that”, she added.
For more: http://www.amg.io/trinidadian-gay-rights/
See also iNews Cayman related story today “Kamla blanks latest request for meeting from Trinidad environmentalist [who is on hunger strike]”
Cayman Islands University forms online partnership with Penn State University
The University College of the Cayman Islands (UCCI) has entered into an on-line partnership with Pennsylvania State University’s World Campus to ensure students can take specialist course that may otherwise be too costly or keep up with classes that are cut locally because of low student numbers.
“At UCCI we are always seeking to build strategic alliances, both locally and internationally, so as to afford our students opportunities to access the best learning experiences available,” UCCI President Roy Bodden said.
The local college’s size should not impeded students’ access to excellent educational opportunities, Bodden said. The on-line access to Penn course can also help working adults who may want to update their knowledge or skills.
“This alliance synchronises with UCCI’s 10th charter year as a University College offering graduate, undergraduate, technical, and professional training in the Cayman Islands. “It has always been my vision to compensate for the constraints of size, financial affordability and changing technologies by developing relationships with institutions on the cutting edge of educational developments,” Bodden added. “Building alliances with reputable institutions such as Penn State affords UCCI students access to their resources, reputation and academic integrity which a small institution like UCCI would normally find as being unaffordable and unsustainable.”
To learn more about the UCCI-approved courses available through Penn State’s World Campus, existing students should check with their advisors or department heads. Non-students may contact UCCI’s Admissions Office by calling (345) 623-0507
Mysterious hemorrhagic fever syndrome in Venezuela’s Caribbean coast
By Erika Guillén in Caracas’ El Universal.From Repeating Islands
Pictures, medical reports and autopsy data are being gathered by members of the Medical Association of Aragua state, central north Venezuela, where nine people have died in the last few days reportedly from a hemorrhagic fever syndrome. Another person died in Caracas on Sunday from the same condition.
To date, doctors do not know whether the disease is caused by a virus or bacteria. This will be determined by the test results of the samples sent last week to the National Institute of Hygiene (INH) in Caracas, the only place in Venezuela that has the adequate reagents.
“Three to five days are enough for running the tests, but they (health authorities) have not said anything. This is an emergency, we do not know what we are facing and we need to know the causes in order to provide appropriate treatment to prevent the collapse of the patient’s organs, and also to set up epidemiological surveillance. This is a very aggressive disease that causes deterioration of patients within 72 hours and causes death,” said a doctor who attended a meeting convened on Tuesday night at the headquarters of the Medical Association of Aragua state and who requested anonymity.
The doctors attending the meeting insisted that government authorities must declare a health emergency in Aragua state. They reported on 10 deaths from hemorrhagic fever syndrome, including one patient who died in Caracas on Sunday. Sources said that some culture samples were sent to a private laboratory to determine the causes of the disease.
For professional ethics, doctors would not disclose the names of the patients involved, but they provided details of the autopsy of one of the deceased that reveal the aggressiveness of the disease.
The autopsy report shows hepatomegaly, strong steatosis, congestive spleen, pale kidneys, hemorrhagic enterocolitis, erosive pleuritis and petechiae in the upper limbs.
Representatives of the Medical Association of Aragua state remarked that all the deceased had the same symptoms (high fever, skin rashes and bleeding).
No Caymanian available with skills for job post says Cayman official over appointment of new government employment agency head
After mounting criticism for engaging Brian Holland from New York as the new Director of the National Workforce Development Agency (NWDA) and not employing a Caymanian, Deputy Employment Chief Officer Dr. Tasha Ebanks Garcia said locally there was no one available with the skills necessary who could fill the post. She said the NWDA would benefit from the experience and training this director would bring and their hope and expectations is within the next few years a Caymanian director of the NWDA will be in place.
Caribbean Airlines may require government support even after 2017
From CH Aviation
Caribbean Airlines (BW, Port of Spain) will receive a total of TTD1.8billion (USD283million) in government funding over the period 2013 to 2015 Trinidadian Minister of Finance, Larry Howai, has said amid concerns the airline may not turn a profit even after 2017.
Responding to questions in the country’s parliament last week, Howai said that while the introduction of a restructuring plan last year would lead to a gradual reduction in government-backed subsidies over the next three years, there are no guarantees that the airline will be sustainable by then given its route obligations and rising competition.
“For a number of years, Caribbean Airlines has operated with the financial support of the Government by way of two subsidies; a fuel subsidy and a per-passenger air bridge subsidy,” he was quoted by the Trinidad Express. “Recently mandated to become viable without the TTD250million fuel subsidy, CAL has been engaged in streamlining its operations in order to do so. The sizeable adjustment is of necessity, taking some time, and the Government continues to provide some assistance during this period of adjustment for the airline.”
In addition, the Venezuelan foreign currency crisis also impacted the carrier’s bottom line.
Petition to save [African Caribbean] day centre in trouble
From ITV UK
More than five hundred people have signed a petition to keep an African Caribbean Day Centre in Wellingborough open.
The Day Centre may be forced to close
The African Caribbean Day Centre in Wellingborough Credit: ITV News Anglia
The Centre has been a place for older people in Northamptonshire to meet and make friends for more than 30 years.
However, from tomorrow, it will be run by volunteers because the money to keep it going has run out.
It comes less than a fortnight after another elderly day care centre in the town was closed following funding issues. Wellingborough Borough Councillors voted to push on with plans to close nearby Glamis Hall, because building repairs and keeping the service going would cost too much.
Glamis Hall, Wellingborough
Glamis Hall, Wellingborough Credit: ITV News Anglia
Wellingborough African Caribbean Association says it gets about £52,000 a year from Northamptonshire County Council to run the Caribbean day centre.
However, with the council changing the way it funds places like this at the end of October, the Wellingborough Centre could be the next to close.
For more: http://www.itv.com/news/anglia/2014-09-30/wellingborough-day-centre-in-trouble/
