(CNS): With the RCIPS recording over 4,390 traffic offences between January and September this year, a 12% increase on 2012, as well as almost 900 accidents, the police, in conjunction with Streetskill and the Cayman Islands Motorsports Association, are organising a special safety drive this month to highlight the potential dangers of the road and how to keep safe. The fun family event will include interactive exhibits, including impairment goggles (alcohol simulation eye-glasses), as well as driving skills demonstrations and a more serious element marking the passing of those killed on Cayman’s roads. 'DRIVE CAYMAN - Safety Skill Family' is a free event, with food and entertainment, focusing on keeping the roads safe.
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Police aim to help Cayman drive more safely
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Back-up plan in place for music fest in case of rain
(CNS): Organisers of next month’s Cayman Islands International Music Fest, which includes the legendary Percy Sledge in the line-up of stars, say that if the weather turns bad they have reserved an alternative venue. The first of what will be an annual music festival will take place at Grand Harbour on Friday, 6 December, and will cater to a wide cross-section of Cayman’s music lovers, aged 18 to 60. Mogul Entertainment/DSS Production also promises that if for any unforeseen reason, such as a natural disaster, that the event is cancelled, concertgoers will receive full refunds. And since December is outside of the hurricane/rainy season, Mogul points to the unlikelihood of any reason to cancel and encourages attendees to purchase their tickets early.
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Cop chopper airlifts Cuban migrant from Brac
(CNS): A Cuban migrant who was one of 31 people on a vessel intercepted by the authorities on Monday evening on Cayman Brac has been airlifted to Grand Cayman via the police helicopter for medical assistance. Police said that at around 6 pm on Monday 11 November the authorities received a report that a group of Cuban migrants were sighted in the vicinity of Scotts Dock. Officers from the RCIPS and immigration department responded and found 28 men and three women on board the vessel. One of the men was unwell and was taken to Faith Hospital, where he was treated and then returned to the boat. However, the man was understood to have been taken ill again.
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Free storytelling festival kicks off in West Bay
(CNS): Story tellers and musicians from America and across the Caribbean will be joining forces with local yarn spinners at the end of this month when Cayman’s favourite free family festival Gimistory begins travelling round the districts. Kicking-off in West Bay on Saturday 30 November and ending on Saturday, 7 December at Smith’s Barcadere with the spine tingling Duppy Story Night the festival is now in its 25th year. Since 1998, Gimistory, has been bringing together storytellers to entertain people just as they did back in the day before internet, television or even radio. The festival takes place on Cayman’s beaches and at local heritage sites.
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University plans compulsory civic duties
(CNS): Students attending the University College of the Cayman Islands will soon be required to undertake some kind of civic service alongside their studies, the president has revealed. At last Thursday’s graduation ceremony, UCCI President Roy Bodden spoke about the college’s continued commitment to character building as well as academic study. He revealed that the “Men of Standard” programme is to be expanded beginning in the 2014 academic year, with plans to submit the programme for accreditation by one of UCCI’s external partners. He also revealed that the board of governors has approved a mandatory community service aspect to begin in the next academic year.
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Judicial website posts all active laws and amendments
(CNS): For the first time the public can access all of the laws in the Cayman Islands in the same place free of charge on a readily accessible up-to-date database. Not only will ordinary citizens have direct on-line access to every piece of legislation he laws are posted alongside amendments allowing people to see the changes to legislation in context. Alongside the laws the judicial services department is also posting judgments from the courts on its website as well, beginning with the Financial Services Division. Chief Justice Anthony Smellie QC said: “A critical part of maintaining the rule of law is to make it as easy as possible for members of the public to find out what the law is.”
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Booze sellers organize fundraiser for Philippines
(CNS): The Cayman Islands Brewery in Prospect will be hosting a major fundraiser on Saturday 23 November to raise cash for the victims of Super Typhoon Haiyan, which struck the Philippines at the weekend. This is the first time that all of Cayman’s liquor distributors -- CIB, Cayman Distributors, Jacques Scott, Tortuga Rum Co, Premier Wines & Spirits and Cayman Distillery Co -- have come together for a joint relief effort. With a significant Filipino community in Cayman, many residents have been seeking ways to help the people impacted by the destruction. Following the message from the premier at the weekend, the opposition leader also called on people to do what they could.
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Tourism boss departs for mystery new career
(CNS): The man credited with turning Cayman’s declining overnight tourism visitors around to record highs over the past few years is leaving government to pursue a new undisclosed career in the private sector. Shomari Scott, who through the clever use of internet and social media, among other initiatives, moved a ten percent fall to a more than 23% increase after taking the top job in an acting capacity in 2009, has resigned from the director’s post at the Department of Tourism. He will be leaving at the end of December, leaving Rosa Harris and Oneisha Richards joint acting directors. "There is never perfect timing to move on,” Scott said in a release announcing his departure.
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Escaped inmate caught in GT
(CNS): Although police had believed that Marcus Manderson had left the Cayman Islands following his escape from HMP Northward with his father, Steve Manderson, and Jamaican national Chadwick Dale in August, he was recaptured in George Town Friday afternoon. Police said that at about 4:10pm on Friday 15 November the Serious Crimes Task Force, Uniform Support Group and the K9 Unit conducted an operation in the Eastern Avenue area of George Town, where Manderson was arrested and returned to custody, having been on the run for three months. The jail break happened on 14 August, when the men cut through the perimeter fence.
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Man killed in road smash
(CNS) Update Monday 10:24am: Police say that the young man who was killed in a road accident early Sunday morning was a passenger in the vehicle that crashed into a wall in North Side and not the driver, as they reported yesterday. He was Jordan Anthony Ebanks, aged 23, from the Northward area. According to the RCIPS, the single vehicle road crash occurred shortly before 5:30am on 17 November, when a Honda Accord left the road and collided with a wall near Old Robin Road. Ebanks died at the scene. The police have since established that a 17-year-old male left the scene of the crash. He was arrested late yesterday evening in George Town on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and remains in police custody while the investigation progresses.
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More Cuban migrants seek shelter on Cayman Brac
(CNS): Another group of Cuban migrants was spotted by the authorities in Cayman Brac waters on Sunday afternoon, officials said. An RCIPS spokesperson said that at about 6pm yesterday (17 November) the vessel carrying 26 Cubans arrived at the KIDCO dock on the south side of the island and the group appeared in good health. They reportedly did not request assistance but police and immigration officials went to the location, where the migrants said that they were seeking shelter from poor weather but they planned to continue their journey to Honduras. This is the third vessel to arrive on the Brac so far this month.
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Speed limits to be cut
(CNS):The public is being asked for their input on the National Roads Authority's review of the speed limits on Grand Cayman. Officials from the NRA and the Traffic Management Panel (TMP) want to reduce the speed limit on West Bay Road from 40mph to 30mph, to reduce the 50mph limit on Frank Sound Road near the school and parts of the Queens Highway around the Reef Resort and Morritts time shares to 30mph, and to increase the speed limit on North Sound Road from 25 to 35mph. Under the latest traffic act passed by the UDP administration in 2011 changes to speed limits on the islands' major roads no longer require an amendment to the law but can be dealt with via the regulations with the approval of Cabinet.
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Cinema gets go ahead for late Sunday night showings
(CNS): Changes to the Cinematograph (Amendment) Rules, 2013 passed in the Legislative Assembly on Monday will now allow the cinema to show movies until midnight on Sundays instead of having to stop at 9pm, facilitating an extra show. Financial Services Minister Wayne Panton, who also has responsibility for the Department of Commerce and Investment (DCI), which is now dealing with all forms of business licensing, said that amendments to the regulations also clarified the licence structure and both changing and increasing fees, which will see a minor increase to government coffers of $3,000 from the owners of the only cinema on the islands at Camana Bay.
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Ritz gets government safety check with OSH course
(CNS): Government officials delivered a two day workshop at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel this week for managers and supervisors on occupational safety and health (OSH) in the workplace. Delivered by the Department of Labour and Pensions, the workshop reviews management of safety and health in the workplace environment, worksite analysis, construction safety, hazard prevention and control, as well as employee safety and health training. Presenter, Gene Hydes, Senior Labour Officer for the DLP said the course focused on the identification and prevention of hazards in the workplace.
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First three Employees of the Month announced
(CNS): Women have made a clean sweep of the first three Deputy Governor’s Employee of the Month awards for the government fiscal year that began on 1 July 2013. GIS reports that the women are from diverse backgrounds but the one common thread that bonds them is their dedication to duty and to uphold the core values expected of all civil servants. When Deputy Governor Franz Manderson presented the awards recently, each monthly winner received a plaque inscribed with their name and achievement. September’s award went to Detective Sergeant in the Family Support Unit of the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service, Doris Morris-Herrera (left).
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Cuban migrants’ boat capsizes off Cayman Brac coast
(CNS): A vessel carrying 28 Cuban migrants capsized this morning when they were in Cayman Brac waters. Immigration officials said that they have now taken custody of the new group of Cubans who were aboard the 25-foot boat when it overturned at about 7am Monday off the coast of the Sister Islands, rendering it inoperable. Its passengers then came ashore. Department of Immigration representatives have travelled to Cayman Brac to escort the migrants to Grand Cayman for processing. Officials did not say whether or not anyone was hurt or if there were women or children in the group.
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Development bank faces trouble with serious debt
(CNS): The government-owned bank, which was created in 2002 to support entrepreneurship, economic and social development through loans, equity financing and other assistance, has a $30 million debt, which is due to be paid off in 2015. The financial services minister has raised his concern that this significant debt presents a challenge to the Cayman Islands Development Bank’s future ability to fulfill its mandate. The bank's 2012 financial statements, laid in the Legislative Assembly by Wayne Panton, who now has responsibility for the CIDB, showed that the bank had made a loan in contravention of its own law to a relative of an MLA in 2009, which was not addressed for more than 18 months.
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Bank robbery case collapses
(CNS): A case brought by the crown against three men charged with conspiring to rob the George Town branch of Scotiabank collapsed after the judge questioned the credibility of the key witness. The only evidence presented against James McLean, Christopher Myles and Kevin Bowen came from David Parchment, the man charged with being a co-conspirator after his car was caught on camera as the bank robbers’ getaway vehicle. The case, which was plagued with procedural issues before it started, was weak from the very beginning and before the key witness was cross-examined Justice Alex Henderson, who was presiding over the trial alone, raised his concerns about the main witness.
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Talent competition tonight for aspiring singers
(CNS): The Cayman Islands International Music Fest’s talent show, Xposure, will take place tonight, Thursday November 28 at Beaches, Grand Harbour. Originally launched in 2006 by Mogul Entertainment/DSS Production, the aim of the talent competition is to give local singers a chance to showcase their talent on a world-class stage. “Xposure was a great event, it was also one of the most gratifying things that I have done. I do believe that the next Rihianna is out there just waiting to be discovered – we have some amazing talent in the Caribbean,” said Dwayne Seymour, the creator of both the Cayman Islands International Music Fest and Xposure. The winner will get an incredible chance to share the stage with the headliners at the music fest at Grand Harbour on Friday, 6 December
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Storytime to begin in West Bay Saturday
(CNS): Story tellers, poets, musicians and actors from Cayman, the Caribbean and the United States will come together over the next week for one of Cayman’s best loved free arts festivals. Gimistory opens at West Bay public beach tomorrow night at 7pm with a line-up of storytelling stars as well as some traditional fish fry fritters ‘n’ swanky. A casual affair that encourages people to bring their own blanket or chairs will see Cayman’s own Quincy Brown along with David Bereaux & Friends the Blacksage and internationally renouned comedian Ken Corsbie and many more offering over two hours of entertainment in the opening, open air, event.
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