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Specials and Events

Last night's TV news on Channel 7 and Channel 5
Also with the most recent Open Your Eyes, and the Dickie Bradley Specials


The San Pedro Sun

Six contestants vie for the title of Miss San Pedro
The Miss San Pedro pageant is set for the 31st of August and anticipation is high following the announcement of the names of the six contestants vying for the prestigious title. The six contestants were presented to the media at a small gathering at the official sashing ceremony. The event was organized by the San Pedro Town Council (SPTC) on Monday August 5th at El Divino Restaurant and the six contestants were accompanied by their parents and their main sponsors. The contestants are Miss Yanira Lara sponsored by Fido's Restaurant and Bar, Miss Gabriela Varelasponsored by Jaguar's Temple Nite Club, Jordana Segura sponsored by Ramon's Village Resort, Venancia Choc sponsored by Captain Shark's, Shantell Pascasio sponsored by Southwind Properties and Solani Graniel sponsored by Castillo's Hardware. Speaking at the official sashing, Mayor of San Pedro Town Daniel Guerrero applauded the braveness of the six contestants and congratulated the sponsors for their support. "It is important for us at the SPTC to elect a queen every year. Let me say that all the contestants are queens, however only one can be Miss San Pedro. We want the contestants to have fun and enjoy the events leading up to the pageant. The SPTC has been working hard so that every year it becomes bigger and better. I just want to wish each of the contestants all the best," said the Mayor.

Island Invasion- Summa Fling Pt ll -"Two Thumbs Up!!"
Fido's Courtyard was the place to be on Friday, August 2nd and Saturday, August 3rd as King of the Island Promotions' "Island Invasion- Summa Fling Ptll" brought out a line up of some of Belize's best DJ's to rock the crowd. DJ Zane, Air Invasion Sounds, Sovereign Sounds, DJ Julian (Blue Wave Sounds), DJ Kris and DJ Jago (Tagg International Sounds) all took the stage to deliver a night filled of musical madness to a crowd that would go on to party into the wee hours of the morning. With a general admission of $10.00BZ event doors were open to the influx of a massive crowd from 11AM-4PM, who all came out in good spirits to enjoy a night of good clean fun- island style.Drinks in hands and music booming, party goers danced the night away to everything from dancehall to pop, reggae to hip hop and R&B and everything in between. Even with so many events happening simultaneously across San Pedro Town, Summa Fling Ptll certainly managed to draw a very large crowd. By the end of the night (which in all technicality was morning) a sold out bar and jam packed dance floor were the signs of a very fun night indeed.

Saga moves to counter-attack Canine Distemper Virus on Ambergris Caye
The virus can be passed from one dog to another through fluids, by touching each other or by coming in contact with virus living on the ground,particularly in shady areas. According to Saga, distemper affects the dog's brain and nervous system and can be fatal. It is also totally preventable. "Distemper virus is highly contagious in dog populations but is 100% preventable by having your pets vaccinated. The dogs that Saga is treating are pets that have never been vaccinated. For that reason we are encouraging pet owners that have dogs missing vaccinations to bring them in, since those are pets that are more vulnerable. The virus can be transmitted from dog to dog but not to humans. Once a dog is affected, we can provide them with antibiotics. However, in more chronic cases there is not much we can do and we will have to put down the dogs," said Heather Beck, one of the Directors of the Saga Board of Directors. "Signs of infection include cold like symptoms, fever like symptoms, droopy eyes, and runny nose and in more extreme cases the pet gets violent seizure attacks. We begin to see symptoms seven to 10 days after the dog has had the virus." added Beck. In most extreme cases, the dog wobbles from side to side when walking and eventually have continuous violent seizures until they eventually die.

Ambergris Today

Financial and Investment Consultancy Firm Opens in San Pedro
Flowers, Salazar and Associates (FSA) was just a dream 18 months ago, but became a reality with the vision of a few entrepreneurs who have come together to create a new professional firm in San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, that will provide an essential service. On Wednesday, July 31, 2013, Flowers, Salazar and Associates celebrated its official inauguration and business blessing. FSA's primary operation is to assist international clients who are interested in investing in Belize. Services rendered by FSA include facilitating the establishments of offshore and international bank accounts, permanent residency, incorporation of IBC's and Trusts, purchase of land and any other services (financial or otherwise) that they may require. On the local scope of the business, services include land purchase agreements and transfers and in the future facilitate notarization of documents and offer legal advice as it relates to Belize.

Miss San Pedro Pageant Scheduled for August 31
"The pageant, which has become one of the biggest and most prestigious in the country, promises to be a great presentation of our newest queen," commented Mayor Daniel Guerrero. The contestants, along with their sponsors and family members were treated by the San Pedro Town Council and the pageant organizing committee with an evening of light hors d'oeuvres and refreshments. Activities leading up to pageant night, scheduled for Saturday, August 31, have already commenced and the six contestants have started their preparations.

Swim Splash Camp
Lighthouse Christian Radio Ministry with Casey Bartman - US National Team Triathlete bring to you Swim Splash Camp. * Water Safety for New Swimmers * Swim Techniques * All Strokes * Triathlon When: August 12, 13, 14, 2013 Where: Central Park Time: 8:00 AM - 11:00 AM Ages: 7 to 17 years old For more information, Lighthouse Christian Radio FM 101.3 at 226-4673

San Pedro AIDS Commission Thank You Letter
by Felix Ayuso. On behalf of the San Pedro AIDS Commission it gives me great pleasure to extend a heartfelt thank you to all those who in one way or another helped make El Show de Las Estrellas 3 a successful fundraising event. I applaud the members who worked hard to ensure the success of this affair and salute the "friends" of the AIDS Commission who lent a helping hand. Great job guys! You know who you are!

Misc Belizean Sources

Stamina Motivational Speech
Derek Anderson will lead a motivational presentation entitled 'Stamina' tomorrow at the UB auditorium starting at 1:00pm on Aug. 9th.

Galen Eagles Band at CWC
The Galen Eagles Band will be performing at the Cayo Welcome Center tonight at 7:00pm. They'll be heading over to Suriname soon to represent Belize in the Caribbean Festival of Arts. Go show your support, and hear some great music at the same time.

Belize National Song Competition
The National Song Competition will be this weekend. The joint effort by the The National Celebrations Commission,The Institute of Creative Arts and the Belize Tourism Board to get this year's national song are coming to the end. They'll be having the artists sing their songs this weekend, and will judge them live. Go to their website to hear the entries. You can vote for your favorite song.

Cayo BTIA Meeting at SIRH
The Cayo chapter of the Belize Tourism Industry Association is having a meeting today, and everyone is encouraged to attend. One of the main topics to be discussed is NCL's proposed cruise port in the south, which is causing a lot of concern for the future of eco-tourism in Belize. Larry Waight is the new chairman of the Cayo BTIA, and it looks like he'll get it active again. The meeting starts at 2:00pm in the Caracol room at the San Ignacio Resort Hotel. Go show your support.

The National Chess Olympiad in Belize
Chess Olympiad includes 28 players from each district who had to compete in a district tournament to qualify for the National Olympiad. They are all winners

Channel 7

Musa And Fonseca In Crosshairs At Special House Sitting
The House of Representatives met today for the first time since March. There were 13 bills presented, so there was a lot of business to take care of - but what took up 75% of the day's activity was debate over an unusual motion, a motion to, quote, "deplore and deprecate the actions of the member for Fort George and the Member for Freetown, while in government for�granting tax concessions entirely contrary to the laws of Belize." End quote. That, of course, is all about the recent judgment from the Caribbean Court of Justice which ruled that a settlement deed they signed with the British Caribbean Bank was unlawful. The Government used a clever political maneuver to get it introduced into the House as a motion so that Musa and Fonseca who signed the document could be hammered, on the record and at close range in the House of Representatives. But, it wasn't as easy as that; Musa and Fonseca launched their own counteroffensive which made for a feisty back and forth that lasted house. We've compressed some of the highlights into a 15 minute parliamentary punch-up:�.

Hon. Julius' Special Motion Rejected By Hon. Barrow
And he came back to support freshman parliamentarian Julius Espat who was trying to introduce a highly unusual motion to change the membership of the public accounts committee - so that it includes civil society representative. The prime minister told us he would fight it - and sure enough he did, but Espat fought back - and, in the end, many voices were raised, even the House Speaker's! Here's how that heated back and forth went:� Hon. Julius Espat - PUP Cayo South "It is something new for Belize, what we are trying to do here with this motion Mr. Speaker, is to propose a joint public accounts committee. Why are we asking for a proposed public accounts joint committee - it is because the public accounts committee has not functioned since 1981. Mr. Speaker this is a serious issue because all we hear and I am speaking on behalf of the Belizean people - is the bickering that we do here, back and forth but at the end of the day there is nothing concrete that we are proposing to be able to change the system so that we can stop what we're doing here. We need to start working for and on behalf the people of Belize, this is a serious motion we're doing and I am humbly requesting that 'daddy Barrow', the leader of the opposition and the honorable member from....(interrupted by UDP's) - we are not in the UK gentlemen, we are in Belize so he is 'Daddy Barrow' now. Daddy Barrow, who is Queen's Square area rep, I am humbly requesting from him that we seriously look at this issue to change the problems and the things that he has said about and we are asking to be changed so that we can stop speaking about them. The people of Belize need to be given the power to analyze it on their own."

Hon. Julius Vows To Fight On "Until He Dies"
After that quite resounding defeat, Espat stomped out of the House - and we thought he was calling it a day. But we found him just outside the chamber, he said he was just taking a break - but he isn't taking any break on his campaign to bring transparency to public accounts:�. Jules Vasquez "The motion has been left on the floor- you're leaving the House meeting early?" Hon. Julius Espat - PUP Cayo South "No no, I'm taking a break." Jules Vasquez "You have to be extremely disappointed." Hon. Julius Espat "No, it was expected - it is the rule of the majority over the people of Belize that was shown in there and that is the problem." Jules Vasquez "If I infer properly into the words of the Leader of the Opposition - your leader - he seemed to have thrown you under the bus, he seemed to have conceded that there were considerable structural flaws and he would like us to find a work around."

SATIIM Staying In The Fight
We've reported very extensively on the recent judgment from the Court of Appeal on the Maya Land Rights case, and on the Government's refusal to renew the co-management contract for the Sarstoon-Temash Institute for Indigenous Management (SATIIM) to manage the national park. While these 2 issues are completely different, there is some overlap because some of the same personalities from SATIIM are the spokespersons for the Indigenous Maya communities. Another important overlap is that part of the park occupies lands which these communities live on - and over which, the court says, they exercise communal land rights. So, they have a strong sense of protection for the park, which SATIIM has been the guardians of for years, and they've been trying to block US Capitol Energy from conducting oil exploration inside the park. Well, today the Executive Director of SATIIM, Greg Ch'oc, and 3 Alcaldes from the south were in Belize City to make media rounds. So, we caught up with them after their appearance on KREM's WUB morning show, and we asked Ch'oc about an update on their injunction filed against US Capitol. He told us that there is a particular urgency for this matter to be dealt with in the Supreme Court:

Paralyzed By Gunshot, Flowers Begs For Help
2 years ago, the well-known street personality, Jeffrey Flowers, become the victim of a ruthless execution attempt, when an unknown gunman shot him multiple times when he was walking on Amara Avenue. That was the last time that he walked on his own, and since then he's been forced to remain in a wheelchair and to depend on his family and friends to take care of his needs for him. He called us today to beg the public to assist him to seek medical treatment outside of the country, to get physical therapy to hopefully regain the use of his legs. Here's how he explained why he's hoping you'll assist, despite his past street life: Jeffrey Flowers - Asking for Donations "I was bed ridden in the first place - I can't even move and help myself, it's like a nightmare on me that I cannot sustain, therefore, I'm looking into therapeutic projects where I can exercise and get back. It's more difficult and I've received an x-ray that somewhere shows a piece of my spine is broken ro rather, the bullet is lodged there. It's really difficult for me in that situation." Daniel Ortiz "So the bullet paralyzed you?" Jeffrey Flowers "Well, if I do not get the orthotic brace to assist me in Quintana Roo, Mexico it will be more difficult for me, I will be like this for a lifetime. So now I'm really crying out for help to the society that they could try help me in whatever way and to assist me.

Luke Espat, The Iguana Creek Bridge And the Prospects For His Candidacy
We've already had a lot of politics in the news tonight - but we've got to go there again - in the second part of our interview with prospective candidate for Cayo Central Luke Espat. He's a polarizing political figure, and always a great interview - and that's because he's consistently outspoken, sometimes even outrageous. He's also been politically tainted in the past for being the consummate PUP insider who benefited from the famous bloated contracts between 1989 - and 1993 - the most famous of which is for the Iguana Creek Bridge - which collapsed, the remnants of the structure serving now only as a billboard. It's relevant because the bridge is at the boundary of Cayo Central - where Espat wants to be Area Representative. And So we asked him about it, and Espat, who usually takes all questions with panache wasn't too happy about that one:� Jules Vasquez "One of the monuments to your incompetence as a Civil Engineer or as a contractor is right at the cross section of three divisions, the Iguana Creek bridge; your bridge that fell into the river." Luke Espat "My bridge or the bridge that the Ministry of Works built that we told them would have had a disaster. Let's not go back there Jules. Let's not go back, we dealt with that years ago. I am not going to continue to encourage you in that line of questioning because have told you."

Hon. Julius Tells Cousin Luke, "Stand Down, Primo"
But will he really? The fact is that there are many who are urging Espat to stand down - and one of them is his own first cousin, PUP Deputy Leader Julius Espat. He told us he loves his cousin, but putting his name on a ballot is not what's best for the PUP going forward:� Jules Vasquez "Mr. Espat - we've heard a lot from Luke Espat, do you support his candidacy for Cayo Central?" Hon. Julius Espat - PUP Cayo South "I am not in my authority - I cannot support any candidacy. I am the Deputy party leader of the Western Caucus. My responsibility is to make sure that people go to conventions and they follow the procedures, I can only advise. My opinion is that we need new faces, we need talented people, we need new blood because if we show the same faces, coming up General Election - we will get blown out like 2008, that is my personal opinion backed up by the Party Leader's opinion. We are serious about reform and change, Mr. Luke Espat, he's an honorable man -he's my first cousin and I love him dearly, he has talents more than most of us. But in my opinion, that can be used in other ways to benefit the party and the country - it's a personal opinion, him and I - we could agree to disagree. That doesn't change the fact the he's my family or that I love him, but I believe what I believe and it is backed up by what the party leader says. At the end of the day I am a humble servant of the People's United Party and I follow orders."

Are You Missing Micronutrients? Survey Shows Many Belizeans Are
Do you ever think of your vitamin B12 intake? Well, you should, a national survey was conducted by the Ministry of Health in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and it found that Belizeans have low levels of Folic Acid and Vitamin B12 - so much so that it is classified as a public health concern. The survey was conducted during 2011-2012 and sampled of 1,979 adults and children from across the country The objective of the survey was to find out the prevalence of deficiencies of Folic Acid,Vitamin A and Vitamin B12 among women of reproductive age 15-49 years old and children 6-59 months in Belize. The findings show widespread folic acid deficiencies among women of reproductive age directly relating to the high prevalence of neural tube defects in children. An epidemiologist form the CDC explained: Dr. Jorge Rosenthal - Epidemiologist, CDC "It's a regional problem, the problems of anemia. However, it varies in Costa Rica because of good fortification - they have 45 different staples - they have reached the highest proportion of the population and they have decreased in not only in the problems of anemia , the problem of micronutrients but as well we have immortality, prematurity and so on."

Ballers For Life
For the next 2 weeks, youths between the ages of 8 to 17 years across the country will be able to participate in a major, national basketball training camp. The camp is organized by the Belize Basketball Federation called "Ballers for Life" where aspiring players can get a 2-week course on the fundamentals and finer points of the game. Today, 7News stopped by the first day of the Belize's City camp at the Bird's Isle, and we spoke with a few young ballers who signed up. David Lacey - Secretary, Belize District Basketball Association "The basket ball federation and its president Paula Thompson were anxious to have some kind of summer event for the younger players so with the assistance from the Minster of Sports and from Smart, they got funding for a nationwide set of camps, one in each district. So they contacted the Belize District basketball association to organize the Belize District camp here in Belize City, so we put out a notice for children from age eight through seventeen to show up, so today we are trying to register them and organize them into their respective age groups so we can get going in a more organize way tomorrow. We have some people helping us to develop some of their basic skills so we have a better set of players when we move on to other tournaments and so forth."

Channel 5

PM takes hits on Musa and Fonseca for Accommodation Agreement
The House of Representatives had not met for five months, but it did this morning in Belmopan. Several motions were introduced but the primary business had to do with a [...]

Julius Espat pushes motion to restructure Public Accounts Committee
Another hotly debated motion was presented by Cayo Central Representative, Julius Espat. It dealt with the changes to the composition of the Public Accounts Committee. Prime Minister Dean Barrow last [...]

Though motion is rejected, Julius Espat promises to bring back the PAC
Earlier in the newscast, the motion presented by Julius Espat for changes to the PAC was denied. News Five spoke to the Espat after the speaker rejected the motion. Espat [...]

Michael Finnegan feels sorry for P.U.P. considering taking back Cordel Hyde
Cordel Hyde and Mark Espat held two of the strong P.U.P. seats in Belize City. Espat and Hyde bowed out at the eleventh hour of the 2012 General Elections and [...]

Luke Espat and Collet Montejo for Cayo Central
Luke Espat has announced his political candidacy in Cayo Central in loud fashion. The reaction to that announcement both inside and outside the People's United Party has been mixed, but [...]

SATIIM's injunction against U.S. Capital Energy to be heard in court
In the south, SATIIM and Alcaldes of communities in the buffer zone of the Sarstoon Temash National Park have filed for an injunction against US Capital Energy. That injunction seeks [...]

SATIIM continues to manage park without co-management agreement
As far as co-management of the Sarstoon-Temash National Park is concerned, there has been no progress to report. The Forest Department's stance is that SATIIM is persona non grata, and [...]

Why were all the files and vials abandoned at old hospital site
On Tuesday newscast, we brought you an exclusive view from the inside of the old San Ignacio Hospital. There was evidence everywhere of gross neglect and from the Ministry of [...]

Taiwan gives a substantial donation to September Celebrations
The September celebrations are just around the corner and the calendar of activities will surely include two major celebrations: the Battle of St George's Caye and Independence Day. To ease [...]

Amazing performances were held on Superstar!
They rocked the Bliss on Tuesday night with phenomenal performances…the aspiring Superstars in Season Two brought their finest act to the stage as the competition tightens in who will walk [...]