<<< Former Minister of Immigration Branville McCartney and potentially front-runner for the top FNM post.

Nassau, Bahamas — Maneuvers inside the belly of the FNM confirm a power shift is imminent deep inside the governing Party of the Free National Movement. Bahamas Press can confirm the ‘UNTOUCHABLES’ Brent Symonette and Tommy Turnquest are now both taken control of Sir Cecil’s party leaving the Ingrahamites to struggle for control of the FNM.

Sources inside the FNM tell us following the outcome of the Elizabeth by-election there has been many new maneuvers taken on by a strong movement within the Party.

“We are getting ready for a ‘political bloodbath’ BP. All signs of that are imminent. You would have seen how Branville has given Hubert his walking papers and now just yesterday Carl Bethel noted strong his objection to ever returning to Ingraham’s Cabinet adding that he is a “Sir Cecil Wallace Whitfield FNM”. Those comments were telling signs and evidences of what is to come and we all know it is coming soon,” a deep throat in the FNM said.

Bahamas Press notes that its was in January 2008 when Hubert Ingraham told members of the media that he will determined if he will make a run for the next general election. He then asked the press to question him on the same two years from then. Well we all know what has happened in January 2010; two year later. Ingraham orchestrated a by-election and is now fighting for a win in the Election Court.

We are told there is a movement afoot to force Ingraham to retire before the FNM’s term in government expires; however, word is Ingraham has not made up his mind as yet. Also we understand the Ingrahamites of the party are moving ranks and have sent out a warning to all Cecilites that if they move any further to oust Ingraham as leader all hell will break loose inside the FNM.

Yesterday former editor of the Freeport News and die-hard FNM Cecilite, Oswald Brown, laid the foundations for an open attack on the Ingraham administration calling the prime minister a ‘potential little dictator’. In his scathing rebuke in an letter to Bahamas Press Brown wrote:

“…The big difference between Sir Cecil and Hubert is that Sir Cecil was an honourable man; Hubert Ingraham cannot lay claim to being the same.

It is so sad that those original FNMs who are still active in the party have allowed Hubert Ingraham to turn Sir Cecil’s dream into such a political nightmare. The FNM is now totally Hubert Ingraham’s party. What he says goes. Even now, because of fear of incurring another dose of Hubert Ingraham’s wrath, Carl Bethel will not admit that he was humiliated and fired on national television by this potential little dictator. Carl, more than anyone else, should realize that the voters in Elizabeth have sent a strong message that the FNM will lose the next general election badly; after all, he was the campaign manager for his party’s candidate, and no matter what the election court decides, the message is clear that the people of this county will not run the risk of having Hubert Ingraham lead The Bahamas for another five years and totally destroy the democratic way of life that we are accustomed to.”

BP contends a split in the governing Free National Movement is possible but according to our sources in the Party it is a wait and see.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Armed Robbery

Sometime around 12:00 noon on Monday 15th March, 2010 police received information of an armed robbery at East Street and Sunlight Cottage.  Police responded and information received from a 34 year old female of Sunlight Cottage, while walking south on East Street she was approached by a dark male on a bicycle, allegedly armed with a handgun demanding cash.  The culprit robbed the female of her handbag containing an undetermined amount of cash, a cell phone and personal effects.  The culprit fled the area on the bicycle, heading west on Peter Street. Police are investigating.

Family Island

Operation Restore Law and Order

In response to the police commitment during a recent visit to Harbour Island, officers of the Central Detective Unit & Drug Enforcement Unit, New Providence in a combined effort with their colleagues from CDU & DEU in North Eleuthera particularly Harbour Island, conducted a series of operation on the island.  The operation commenced Friday 12th March, 2010 and ended on Monday 14th March, 2010. The purpose of the operation was a direct response to the crime wave on Harbour Island.

Officers executed search warrants and provided high police visibility at the local Clubs. The operation was extremely successful as officers took eight (8) people into custody: three (3) Canadians, three (3) Italians and two (2) local residents.  The Canadians all juveniles- two females ages 15 and 16 years and one male age 16 years were taken into custody for possession of suspected marijuana.  The Italians, all males’ ages, 36, 37 and 48 were taken into custody for possession of suspected marijuana.  The two (2) local residents both males, were taken into custody for possession of suspected marijuana and cocaine.

The initiative put forward during this past weekend by officers on the island is a clear indication that the police will target crime and criminals where ever they exist in an effort to reduce and eventually remove crime and the fear thereof, thus creating an environment where people can live, work, visit and play.

Traffic Fatalities

Police have now identified the victim who died on Saturday 13th March 2010 in a traffic fatality at 1:15am on Fox Hill Road. The victim has been identified as QUINTON LEONARDO CURRY AGE 28 YEARS OF JOE FARRINGTON ROAD. The motorcyclist who crashed on Sunday 14th March, 2010 at 10:45 pm on JFK Drive, has been identified as JEFFREY SAUNDERS AGE 20 YEARS OF HOSPITAL LANE.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Anne Bethel listens to her son Emma E Cooper third-grader Simeon Bethel perform on the drums during the E Clement Bethel National Arts Festival adjudications on March 2, 2010.

MARSH HARBOUR, Abaco - As the E Clement Bethel National Arts Festival entered its second week of adjudications in the Family Islands, parents of participating students voiced their pride in their children and showed support by attending the performances.

In Palmetto Point, Eleuthera, Anne Bethel, the mother of an Emma E Cooper Primary School student said she was extremely proud of her son and that he enjoyed the preparation and performing process.

“This was a very exciting experience,” Ms Bethel said on March 2, 2010.  “I had no idea that it was such a serious event until today and I am very proud to have him participate.  The fact that he was selected by the music teacher was inspirational.  I think he did a very good job.”

Her son, third-grader and drummer Simeon Bethel said he liked taking part in the Festival and enjoyed seeing the smile on his mother’s face as he performed.

“I felt good and happy because she is my mum,” he said.

Also in Palmetto Point, at the Central Eleuthera High School, parent Sonia Lewis said seeing her son Cleon Lewis perform in the Festival and getting good scores for both his trumpet playing and drumming made her proud and happy for him.

“He is doing so well and this is something that he is looking forward to continuing in the future; so I just hope that he does his best,” Mrs Lewis said.

Seeing all the students perform at the adjudications that day also bodes well for future nation building, she added.

“This is exciting because this is part of our culture – singing and dancing and playing instruments – and it is good to see them participating and doing their best,” she said.  

Popularity: 2% [?]

Citizens’ Review episode 5 pt. 1 from Citizens' Review on Vimeo.

Citizens’ Review episode 5 pt. 2 from Citizens' Review on Vimeo.

Citizens’ Review episode 5 pt. 3 from Citizens' Review on Vimeo.

Citizens’ Review episode 5 pt. 4 from Citizens' Review on Vimeo.

Citizens’ Review episode 5 pt. 5 from Citizens' Review on Vimeo.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Oswald Brown Writes

[H RAP BROWN]

Dear Media Editor,

I had decided not to comment on current affairs until after I have completed writing my first novel, which I hope to have finished for publication by the end of June. However, after reading your posting today on former Education Minister Carl Bethel, I am compelled to offer a few observations to set the record straight.

You are correct when you say that the Free National Movement (FNM) was formed at Spring Hill Farms, a property owned in Fox Hill by the late James “Jimmy” Shepherd, a member of the Dissident Eight and one of the forgotten heroes of the struggle for majority rule. I am a founding member of the FNM, and was the founding editor of The Torch of Freedom, the FNM’s newspaper. As a result I sat in on some of the meetings between members of the Free PLP and moderate elements of the defeated United Bahamian Party (UBP). You may be aware of the fact that when the Dissident Eight, under the leadership of Cecil Wallace Whitfield, and their followers, myself included, broke away from the PLP, we first referred to ourselves as Free PLPs. There were those among us, myself included, who were opposed to joining up with members of the UBP because of their vicious and oppressive policies against the black majority while they were the government. We felt that we had contributed as much, and in the case of some even more, to the struggle for majority rule and had every right to be called Free PLPs. Sir Cecil, however, was a very persuasive man, and in his view we had to make a clean break from the PLP and form a new party.

I have provided this bit of background information to point out just how wrong you are to suggest that Spring Hill Farms was the headquarters for the “goon squads.” The truth is that serious political discourse and planning took place at Spring Hill Farms to lay the foundation for a strong and vibrant political party that after two decades of struggle becaue the government of The Bahamas. However, the FNM that exists today is not the same FNM that the courageous Dissident Eight put their political careers on the line to establish. It is the “Third Force Party” that Hubert Ingraham unsuccessfully tried to establish after he was put out of the PLP in 1984. True, it was Hubert Ingraham who led the FNM to victory in 1992, but the vast majority of the original members of the FNM still are convinced that the Bahamian people were ready for a change, and had Sir Cecil won his battle with cancer, the FNM would have still won in 1992. The big difference between Sir Cecil and Hubert is that Sir Cecil was an honourable man; Hubert Ingraham cannot lay claim to being the same.

It is so sad that those original FNMs who are still active in the party have allowed Hubert Ingraham to turn Sir Cecil’s dream into such a political nightmare. The FNM is now totally Hubert Ingraham’s party. What he says goes. Even now, because of fear of incurring another dose of Hubert Ingraham’s wrath, Carl Bethel will not admit that he was humiliated and fired on national television by this potential little dictator. Carl, more than anyone else, should realize that the voters in Elizabeth have sent a strong message that the FNM will lose the next general election badly; after all, he was the campaign manager for his party’s candidate, and no matter what the election court decides, the message is clear that the people of this county will not run the risk of having Hubert Ingraham lead The Bahamas for another five years and totally destroy the democratic way of life that we are accustomed to.

On another note, you referred to the “goon squads” as if their existence was a bad thing. It was not. That name was coined by elements in the UBP for a group of young men who disrupted UBP meetings held Over The Hill. As an avowed Black Power advocate at the time, I participated in some of those disruptions, but those of us seriously involved in the Black Power Movement were committed to taking more drastic action to bring about change in The Bahamas. We were advocates of Malcolm X’s exhortation to bring about change by any means necessary.

Yours sincerely
Oswald T. Brown
Freeport, Grand Bahama

Popularity: 3% [?]

Today at 8:26am
The Editor 12th March 2010
Nassau, Bahamas

Dear Sir/Madam

The Punch, in an obvious and sustained campaign of character assassination, continues to propagate outright lies about me.

In the Thursday 11th March 2010 edition of The Punch, this pattern of attack has been repeated and expanded.

The Punch has continued to misrepresent the achievements of my tenure as Minister of Education. For the record, I was the Minister who conceived of, and set up, the Sexual Complaints Unit in the Ministry of Education, with the hardworking members of my staff, not Minister Desmond Bannister, as was untruthfully claimed in The Punch.

The Sexual complaints Unit was set up at my command when it became clear that the ministry had no institutional mechanism, or capacity, to appropriately and expeditiously investigate all complaints involving alleged sexual misconduct by teachers and support staff in our schools.

While some commentators (and the Parliamentary Select Committee) were apparently more concerned about the right “Public Relations”, I as Minister was much more concerned to ensure that the correct response capacity was put in place in the Ministry to ensure a safe environment for students in every school in The Bahamas. That achievement is among other positive initiatives which I left for Minister Bannister and every succeeding Minister of Education, and for the benefit of generations of Bahamian students to come.

Further, at no time did I ever ask to re-join, or even so much as hint to anyone, that I was interested in re-joining the Cabinet. In fact, had I been asked to re-join the Cabinet in any capacity, at this time, I would have refused for the same reasons that I decided to resign from it in November 2009 namely, that the Party needed a Chairman to help prepare it for the next general elections.

As a “Cecil Wallace-Whitfield FNM” who was present at the very foundation of the Party at Spring Hill Farms, I learned from him the need, sometimes, to sacrifice “position” in order to ensure the best prospects for electoral success of the Party.

In the same vein I resigned from Cabinet in order to do everything in my power to help my Party prepare for the next general elections which, if we were to judge by the closeness of the margins in the Elizabeth bye-elections, will be an important function.

Those reasons have not changed, and I am not interested in returning to Cabinet until that job is done.

Yours Sincerely,

Carl W. Bethel,
MP for Sea Breeze Constituency

EDITORIAL FOOTNOTE: Carl was at the inception of the party at Spring Hill Farms. BP would remind our readers and educate our young readers that Spring Hill Farms was owned by Jimmy Shepard and home base for the FNM goons squad in the early 70s.

The goons squad members like, Scaboo Newton, resided at Spring Hill Farms and launched his attacks from that very same compound. Just to give those of you who don’t know where Spring Hill Farms is, Elma Chase -Campbell has her residence on part of the estate on Fox Hill Road just north of the traffic light on Prince Charles Drive. Plenty ghost resides at that estate.

This is what you get for attacking Hubert Ingraham Carl and we at BP will drag out the goon squad in short order!

Carl you would see is now fighting back after his firing from the Ingraham Cabinet in November last year.

Bahamas Press/Editor

Popularity: 5% [?]

Nassau, Bahamas — This weekend was not a good one for BP. Two young beautiful girls, who possessed all the benefits of having a prosperous life have slipped from time into eternity. The times we live in nowadays in the Bahamas have brought us to this point of reflection and suffers us to memorize that life is fragile and with its fragility comes no promise for tomorrow to any man.

The weekend for us especially was not good as a young aspiring 18 year-old was laid in her final resting place. Young KeishaThurston – the would-be Mathematics educator – decided not to journey on the painful road of life anymore and, therefore, she end her life.

Bahamas Press took vicious criticisms, even from some in our own ranks, following our scathing attack on persons who know Keisha was in trouble. The article took a shot at some of the ‘VICKED’ demons that engulfed her world. And since her suicide death we at Bahamas Press kept hammering the question; who know Keisha Thurston was suicidal?

We told you about her ‘BFF’ who we know engaged Thurston in a series of explosive argumentative text messages posted to her on day of her death. We told you how the family who knowing her trauma just disappeared the day she departed. Even so, how can someone so weak and fragile about life, with all the many friends on earth, be left so alone? Left in a vortex of pressure and suicide? This simply boggles the mind. Something just doesn’t add up to us.

There is a third party to this tragedy you the executive front seat readers of BP should know about. Since probing Thurston’s death, BP has engage conversations on the grounds of the country’s finest tertiary institution; The College of the Bahamas. While there we’ve began to gather – with our Sherlock cap and coat on – some damaging evidence, which can be added to this entire investigation.

You see, it was the Thursday before Thurston committed suicide when she found out that life’s troubled waters beginning to abate her and engulf her around the neck. Keisha we are told began seeking help for herself. She didn’t find it in her close friend[s] nor did she discover it in her home and thus, she turned to the doorsteps of the counseling department at COB for help.

Witnesses at COB tell us Keisha entered the 3rd floor of the Portia Smith Building on the campus ground and requested an audience with the guidance counselor. It is alleged that while there she waited and waited and waited, but no help was forthcoming. We are told even after her long wait in an attempt to abort in the struggle for her life, she ended that day still no help.

This is incredible! Young people with all these pressures of life cannot get help when needed! And so today Bahamas Press came asking questions

• Where were the guidance counselors at the College of the Bahamas when young Keisha Thurston made requests to see them the 3rd floor of the Portia Smith Building the Thursday before she committed suicide?

• Why did no one see the poor child and offer counseling needed at the publicly funded institution?

• Were members of the department taking another strike action against the government or were they in the usual LAZY, WUTLESS STATE found in many departments of government taking coffee-break, doing lunchtime or dashing for school pickup; hogging up seven of the seven and a half hours assigned to do the people’s business?

Bahamas Press wants the WUTLESS department at COB to know they are equally guilty and culpable in the demise of Keisha Thurston as everyone else we’ve probed in this investigation. We cry SHAME ON THEM!

We are disturbed by this, hurt and pained by this and are troubled with the direction of our country. Thurston left a message on her Facebook wall for all of us to ponder. She said, “I’m not the perfect soul to mess with. I am not the perfect girl to handle but one thing I know for sure is that I can rock your world!”

Truer words could not have been spoken and boy she did and still is rocking our world.

And so to the girl who has left a hole in the hearts of many and has pained a world outside her own. To the once aspiring educator and college student. The girl who brought life to the team and helped coached those unskilled in the group. To the one who left only short phrases, motionless pictures and silent videos on her Facebook page of happier days, we say so long. The world on this side has missed you already, and yes we at BP are left to tell the story.

May the earth seek salvation in your death and find heavenly comfort in sorrow, AMEN!

Popularity: 5% [?]

Armed Robbery/Shooting

Sometime around 9:31pm on Friday 12th March, 2010 police received information of a shooting at Podoleo Street off Cordeaux Ave.  Police responded and information received from the victim, a 26 year old male, while on Podoleo Street he was approached by another male, allegedly armed with a handgun that robbed him of his jewelry and subsequently shot him to the thigh area.  The victim was taken to hospital via EMS. The culprit fled the area on foot.  Police are investigating.

Drug Arrest

Sometime around 10:55pm on Friday 12th March, officers of the mobile division while on patrol in the area of Marathon Road and Robinson Road, observed three (3) males in a white Chevy Impala L/P 221469 acting suspiciously.  Officers stopped the vehicle, conducted a search and discovered a small amount of suspected marijuana.  The three males ages, 44, 25 and 24 were taken into custody.  Police are investigating.

Fatality 10

Sometime around 1:15 am on Saturday 13th March, 2010 police received information of a traffic accident on Fox Hill Road and Abner Street.  Police responded and information received the driver of 2002 silver CRV  L/P # 125222 was travelling North on Fox Hill Road, when he lost control of the vehicle, struck a utility pole resulting in the vehicle being overturned.  EMS responded and confirmed no signs of life.  Police are investigating.

Drug Arrest

Sometime around 1:30 pm on Sunday 14th March, 2010 officers of the mobile division executed a search warrant on a home at Joe Farrington Road.  Officers searched and recovered a small amount of suspected marijuana and a small amount of suspected ecstasy tablets. A 26 year old male of Nassau East North along with the occupant of the house a 37 year old male was taken into custody.  Police are investigating.

Popularity: 4% [?]

<<< Ashanti “Shantz/Shanti” Johnson 1992 – 2010

Nassau, Bahamas — Bahamas Press reported on Friday that 17 year-old Ashanti “Shantz/Shanti” Johnson had opened her eyes and attempted to take her first breath off the respirator that kept her alive since she was in a coma after being involved in Tuesday night’s car crash on Yamacraw Hill Road.

Reports coming into our newsroom said that she was starting to respond to voices and had even moved her hand three days after the accident which claimed the life of 18 year old Germaine Jeron Forbes of Bamboo Boulevard. The two teens were both passengers in a green 2004 Cadillac Seville that crashed into a cedar tree around 9.30pm.

Another male and female were in the car. Witnesses said that Forbes’ body was one the scene for over two hours while the other three occupants of the car were taken to hospital.

While many of you sent in well wishes and put up prayers for this young woman’s recovery, we are now sad to report that Ashanti succumbed to her multiple injuries earlier today. Up to the time of her death, the former Central Eleuthera High School was focused on getting her paperwork together in order to enter COB to fulfill her dreams of becoming a teacher.

Johnson’s death has sent shock waves throughout the island of Eleuthera which has lost several residents to road accidents including the Carmichael Road police tragedy that claimed the life of on duty officer Othello Darville.

Police initially told media that they did not determine if speed was a factor or not. However, our sources say that these two young Bahamians lost their lives because the driver of the vehicle was drunk and allegedly tried to flee the scene.

Bahamas Press also understands that the driver, who was a close friend of Ashanti, has been receiving threats and is emotionally distraught over the ordeal. There is speculation that the driver might be returning home with family. Our investigation into the matter revealed that the young driver does not possess a driver’s license.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Nassau, Bahamas — We have information coming into us at this hour that a recently retired employee of RBC JFK Branch may have been involved with giving herself loans in the names of people who do not exist or cannot be found.

Information coming into our breaking news Department at this time confirms that the lady retired from the bank on Dec 31, 2009 after been employed with the bank for more than 30 years. Our multiple sources are all confirming that the potential losses for the bank may be over $ 100,000 and can go up to $ 500,000.

“We have only begun to find out some of these loans, and we cannot find the individuals who the loans were purportedly granted to. We are checking and cross referencing as much as we can at this time,” our source said.

The retired employee is said to be missing and her family cannot seem to be able to locate her. another source confirmed that the Country Head Nat Beneby and the Manager Personal Financial Services, Joyce Coleby- Reviere, have called in the authorities and want the lady in question to be picked up and charged.

However, they have not been successful in their pursuit.

We have a lot of concerns coming out of RBC particularly staff say they are being badly treated by the powers that be, we will do a story on this and other concerns at Finco in short order.

WE implore Nat Beneby and Joyce Reviere to treat their direct reports in a civil and Humane manner or they will be left in that Bank by themselves.

It was late last year when tellers at the Palmdale Branch found themselves on the wrong side of the law. With light hands and sticky glue like fingers police took into custody members of that branch for ‘thiefin’ people money! It looks as if another former employee has stepped up the game.

We say to our readers and to RBC STAY TUNED.

Popularity: 7% [?]