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Specials and Events

Last night's TV news on Channel 7, Channel 5 and CTV 3
Also with the most recent Open Your Eyes, and the Dickie Bradley Specials


The San Pedro Sun

Letter to the Editor: VIP on the littering of garbage
As the world celebrates the importance of caring for mother earth, we [VISION INSPIRED BY THE PEOPLE] feel it is time we all place more importance in the cleanliness of our island. A growing concern of residents and visitors of San Pedro is the improper disposal and littering of garbage which has become a serious environment and health hazard. On the health side, there continues to be an alarmingly high incidence of cancers, skin infections and gastro-intestinal diseases affecting the residents of San Pedro. There is an underlying root cause of these health issues and the removal of all garbage would certainly improve the quality of life in San Pedro. On the environmental side, research conducted over the last seven years has revealed evidence of continuous degradation of the marine environment. The garbage pollutes the air, water and land and subsequently harms human and marine life. This has placed our very livelihood at risk, jeopardizes the tourism and fishing industry and could ultimately result in the collapse of the island.

Wolfe's Woofer: Jealousy
"I hate to take this trip," Raul told me. "I know my old lady is cheating on me and I don't want to leave her alone for three days." "You don't have much choice. You have to be in court in San Ignacio about that land deal." "I know," he said. "I can't get out of it." "Are you sure she's cheating?" I asked. "Who is she seeing?" "I don't know and I don't have time to find out right now," he replied. "I fixed her, though. I put a special lock on the bedroom door and gave her three days of food. There's bars on the windows and a bathroom in there so she'll get by." "Raul, that's not legal," I said.

Police Report
*On Tuesday, April 21st at about 12:30PM, police officers conducted searches in the San Pedrito Area where they discovered one black in color magazine Taurus Brand, seven 9mm live rounds, one 3.80 live rounds, six .38mm live rounds, three 16 gauge live rounds and 20.36 grams of suspected Cannabis. All items were taken to the San Pedro Police Station and labeled as "Found Property". *On Tuesday, April 21st at about 12:01PM, police officers conducted a search in the Boca del Rio Area where they discovered a large parcel which was wrapped in transparent plastic wrap. When opened it was noticed to contained compressed suspected Cannabis. It was taken to the San Pedro Police Station where it weighed in at 4.18 pounds. It was labeled as "Found Property".

Doctor Love: Drug Addiction and Weddings
Dear Doctor Love, My wife has always been a good mother. Our relationship was alright until I found out that she had been introduced to drugs at her job. She started disappearing for hours on end and then it became overnight. When she did not come home for three days I found she was staying at the house of a drug dealer and she thinks she is in love with him. I packed up her clothes and sent them to her and she did not come back. That was three months ago. I have the two children and I let her see them but only at our house. Since I can't be there all of the time she is alone with them sometimes. Two weeks ago I noticed some little things were missing and then my daughter told me that her mama's boyfriend came over. I immediately changed the locks and refused to allow her back in the house but I don't think I can hold her off forever. What can I do? /s/ Busted

Misc Belizean Sourcesmzz

Optinam North American
Five of Belize's top Optimist sailors raced today at BTL Park in Belize City for the prize of representing Belize in Optinam North American. San Pedro Sailing Club's own Kevin Velasquez took the 1st winning all 6 races. Trent Hardwick of Belize City came in with a strong 2nd. The two boys will be Belize's first ever team to enter Optinam, a world level Optimist sailing event. Jazmin Campos of Corozal, Nashira Ricardez of Belize City and Tyler Garbutt of Placencia who came in 3rd, 4th and 5th respectively, though not participating in Optinam, will make up the base of Belize's international Optimist sailing team 2015. The event today was sponsored by the Belize Sailing Association (BzSA). Congratulations to all five sailors! Sailors from left to right: Nashira, Kevin, Tyler, Trent, Jazmin

San Pedro Roman Catholic Church holds Family Day
After 10am mass. Free food, drinks and fun games for the children.

LOTTERY DRAWING for Sunday, April 26, 2015: First: 4749 Second: 8950 Third: 5419 Missing: 2, 3, 6

Empyrean Art Center Grand Opening
Cayo is getting a new art center on Burns avenue. Empyrean Art Center, which is located right next to Mickey's, is having their grand opening on May 2nd. They are still looking for fellow artists to show off their work there. "Looking to fill the walls for the Grand Opening on May 2nd! Do you know an artist? Please share!"

CTV3

Top Spellers Of O/W Battle For Spelling Bee Competition
Hundreds of students gathered at the Crystal Palace Auditorium for the district finals of the 21st National Spelling Bee competition. There are several zones in Orange Walk and today ten competing schools equipped their best spellers for a showdown of the words and intellect and at the end of several tough rounds, the speller for Trial Farm Government School emerged as victor. Runner up was Louisiana Government School followed by Solomon's SDA School rounding off the competition. The National Spelling Bee final is scheduled for June 5th in Corozal Town. We will have a word with the Orange Walk's best-speller in Monday's newscast.

Two Persons Charged For Missing Funds At Governents Treasury
Two persons were arrested and charged today in connection with the missing monies from the Treasury Department. As we've previously reported, a Belizean Business analyst for the Treasury Department, and the Government of Belize, reported that on January 28th, of this year $225,296.97 was sent from the Treasury Department to a Belize Bank Account registered under Seine Bight Community Training Program. The monies were a monthly subvention for the Toledo Community College, Punta Gorda Town, but were transferred to Seine Bight Community Training Program at a Belize Bank account and the monies withdrawn from the Belize Bank account, Dangriga Branch over a period of time. A further search in the system revealed that on the January 12th, 2015, David Enriquez did a similar transaction in the sum of $47,638.71. In addition, Accountant General at the Treasury Department and the Government of Belize, reported that on March 14th, of this year $225,296.97 was sent from the Treasury Department to a Belize Bank Account registered under the name Octaviana Lopez of #24 Magoon Street Dangriga Town, Stann Creek District. The monies were a monthly subvention for the Toledo Community College, Punta Gorda Town, but were transferred to Ms. Lopez's Belize Bank account. The monies were withdrawn from the Belize Bank account, Dangriga Town Branch over a period of time.

The Reporter

Another man shot in Belize City Sunday
A third man was shot on Sunday, this time on Kraal Road in Belize City. The incident happened around 2 p.m. The Reporter will have details in our printed edition.

One dead, one critical after Sunday morning shooting
A Sunday morning shooting around 10 a.m. on Iguana Street has left one man dead and another in a critical condition. According to reports, Mark Anthony Medina was shot multiple times and died on the scene before police arrived. The other victim, 55-year-old taxi driver Egbert Hemmans was also shot to the chest. Hemmans was rushed to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital and is listed in critical condition. According to police, investigations into the matter are still in an early stage.

PM leaves to meet about Stake Bank and banking sector
Prime Minister Dean Barrow flew to Miami on Saturday to meet wih officials concerning two seperate issues, the Stake Bank project and the banking sector crisis. Barrow is expected to return on Tuesday but during his visit, he will meet with officials from Carnival Cruise Line. In a previous interview, Barrow had indicated that once he had met with Carnival as to their position on the Stake Bank cruise docking facility project, he would then bring the disputing stakeholders from Stake Bank and the Fort Street Tourism Village to the negotiating table and chart a definitive way to resolving the issue. Barrow will also meet with officials concerning corresponding relations with financial institutions in Belize as some, including the Belize Bank, have already started feeling the effects of US policy toward jurisdictions, like Belize, that have been listed as harmful tax havens. Two weeks ago at the Summit of the Americas in Panama, US President Barack Obama pledged to Caribbean leaders that he would have the policy reviewed and see where some relief could be brought to the region.

Breaking Belize NewsPJ

Belize Beach Volleyball Teams in Continental Tour
For the first time in Belize's volleyball history, Belize has both a male and female team participating in the NORCECA tour in Grand Cayman. NORCECA stands for the North, Central America and Caribbean Volleyball Confederation and is an incorporated, non-profit organization responsible for all volleyball activities that take place in [�]

Stabbing in Ladyville results in two causalities: one murdered and another wounded
Around 9:34 pm on April 25th, 2015, Ladyville police responded to a report of a fight at the Blue House Bar situated between miles 8 and 9 on the Phillip Goldson Highway in Ladyville Village. Upon arriving at the scene, they found the body of 41 years old, Wilmer Antonio [�]

Decomposed body found near Haulover Bridge is Anival Alvarado
The body of the decomposed man found near Haulover Bridge on Thursday evening has been identified as Anival Alvarado, a Honduran national. According to reports, his nickname was "Pepino" and he was identified by the tattoo marked "Ninfar" on his right arm and the black and red wrist band he [�]

Shooting in Belize City
There are reports of a fatal shooting incident this morning in Belize City. The victim is reported to be a resident of the George Street area. More on this story coming up later.

12 persons arrested and charged for drugs and firearms in Roaring Creek
GSU Commander, Mark Flowers informed Belize Media Group this morning that they are presently in the village of Roaring Creek conducting an intensive operation that up to now has proven to be successful. According to Flowers, yesterday a dozen people were arrested and charged for drugs and firearms in Roaring [�]

After 2 guns go missing in PG Police Department, whistle blower cop calls out corruption in the department
A Punta Gorda policeman believes there is corruption happening in the PG Police Department. According to a police officer who spoke anonymously, last week Saturday, April 18th 2015 while on his working shift during 1:00-7:00a.m, 2 guns went missing from the Quick Response Team's locker in the PG Police Station. [�]

Belmopan Area Festival of Arts Performing Arts Section Concludes
Students in the Belmopan Area have shown their talents on various stages in the Belmopan Area Clusters. The excitement was stirred up by beautiful voices with appropriate children's songs, drama, and dance. Since the festival is not a competition the students were awarded Certificates for their level of presentations. [�]

Man Stabbed to Death in Ladyville
Belize Media Group has received reports of a stabbing incident in Ladyville, in the Belize District. According to reports, a man was stabbed in front of a bar around 10:30pm last night and has succumbed to his injuries. The motive of the stabbing is unknown. For an update on this [�]

Blogs

Big Changes for North Ambergris Caye: The Extension of The Road North & A Quarry
Ambergris Caye has been thought of as a tiny island for a while. A small island with a big diving problem, the t-shirts say. It is not a small island at all. And the narrow "sea to lagoon" sections that most see when visiting are just a sliver of a much bigger land mass. One that has been relatively unused due to lack of roads and infrastructure and because the island has always been�well�big enough. But as popularity grows, more tourists are visiting and more Belizeans are coming to work and live, we need more room. And building a road up north - the road that has already been paved from the bridge to Belizean Shores Resort - is a HUGE part of it. GO NORTH! It's where the land is.

Following Moses through Belize
"You may pack one Nalgene, a camera, a change of underwear, and your passport-nothing more, nothing less." We do this. We are driven to the bus station. We wait outside while the bald man who told us what to bring disappears into the building. He returns and we are handed an envelope and a couple bus tickets. The bald man grunts and gestures toward one of the gargling buses. We ask no questions. We're too excited to not take this seriously. We climb up the stairs like kids pretending to search for buried treasure. Except that the buried treasure is God. And we aren't pretending. 96 ounces left. I'm 19 years old. I believe in wearing white t-shirts with the same pair of blue jeans every day. I am sustained by books about spirituality and those orange Ramen packets. I have been living on a catamaran off the coast of Belize with a ragtag crew of a dozen young adults. I am learning to be a disciple, but wrestling with whether or not I believe in God. We are part of a program called Youth With A Mission.

Life after Actun Tunichil Muknal, Belize
As someone who can struggle with motion sickness, a 30 minute bus ride along a muddy and bumpy road seemed like a nightmare at the start of my adventure into the jungles of Belize. In a few short hours on our return trip, that ride would seem like a pleasure cruise. It's amazing what a little Dramamine and some perspective can do for an outlook on life. The bus ride was just the first of many challenges on a group trip to Actun Tunichil Muknal. A local Belizean who ran a tour company sold my husband on what was billed as an adventure of a lifetime. It's a sales pitch perfected over time: "It's an easy walk!" the promised. Sure, you'll walk through some water, but it's always warm: "so warm!" They lied. The first part of our cave adventure doesn't start at the parking lot. These elements are left off the tour guide's sales pitch. First, there are the three river crossings in murky water and a healthy hike along a trail where large cats could be lurking behind the next corner. Finally, we arrive at camp only to be told the adventure is NOW beginning. So, we leave behind everything we've carried along this early part of the adventure, and walk straight into the mouth of a pitch-black cave with a river running through it.

Returning to Wildtracks - Molly looks at the changes since her last Wildtracks experience
How time moves is completely relative to what is going on in your life at the moment. I can tell you that time felt very slow when I went back to the United States for about six months after spending almost nine months at Wildtracks last year. When I left Wildtracks, in September, a lot of big changes had happened at the Rehabilitation Centre - completion of the Central Enclosure for the Spider Monkey Complex, moving two new sets of howler monkeys out to pre-release enclosures and the eldest nursery monkeys getting ready to move outside to their new enclosure. Upon my lucky return to Wildtracks in March of this year I found out just how fast time moves at Wildtracks. My first day back, I got to see how everything had changed in the past six months and it was amazing. So many fantastic things had happened while I was gone. One of the things I was most excited to see was the development of the "quarantine" area. Enclosures have been taken down and moved into the forest to give some monkeys, like Elliot and Athena, a more natural environment away from the hustle and bustle of the Manatee Building. When some of these enclosures were taken down there was room for a new sanctuary enclosure to be constructed for Nikki and Rafiki - the two permanent sanctuary primates at Wildtracks.

Sustainable Belize Shrimp Farming
When the human population is small as in Belize today, there is a tendency to look at coastal wetlands as expendable lands, for the greater immediate need of commercial exploitation and a growing tax base. The results are now in, from Thailand and other parts of Asia. To ignore the benefits of coastal filtration systems, such as mangrove swamps, is a disaster and more expensive in the long run. The longer run is not so far away either, just about thirty years in Belize. Unlike many ocean shore countries, Belize has an inner sea, inshore fisheries and an offshore great barrier reef and islands. These would be severely damaged as the population levels rise to half a million and the one million people mark, without these natural coastal filtration systems. In the past shrimp farm ponds have replaced coastal mangrove swamps. And pollution comes not only from shrimp farms, but from chemicals, fertilizers, feces, waste treatment plants, garbage dumps and many other causes. In order to protect the inshore fisheries and offshore reefs the cost to future governments some thirty to fifty years away would be impossible to try and duplicate the already existing natural filtration system of mangrove belts along the coast of Belize. Shrimp farming in particular became a focus of the coastal lands use of Belize in the 1980s. A lot of knowledge, problems, and ecological environmental effects are now known, that were not known a decade or two ago about shrimp farming. Shrimp farming has run into considerable trouble in recent years. Destruction of mangrove coastal zones to build ponds, was a political decision found to be in error. We now know that shallow lagoons, ponds, creeks and mangrove belts of up to a half mile wide are needed to cleanse the pollution coming off the mainland. The chemical reactions and combinations of atoms and molecules that by natural process convert toxic pollutants into harmless natural substances are almost impossible to duplicate by man-made substitutes for mangrove swamps.

International Sourcesizz

Lord Michael Ashcroft resigns from House of Lords
LORD Michael Ashcroft has resigned from the House of Lords as he can no longer "contribute meaningfully," according to the International Business Times. The 69-year-old was treasurer of the Conservative Party from 1998 to 2001, under William Hague and also served as deputy chairman. He has donated �10m to the Tories since the 1980s but withdrew the lifeline in 2013 amid speculation he doubted the party would secure a majority at the general election in May. His Lord Ashcroft Polls service into marginal seats is seen as a barometer of how the election could unfold. A statement on his website said he was stepping down to concentrate on his Lord Ashcroft Polling service as well as publishing interests. "Earlier this year Baroness D'Souza, the Lord Speaker, said that any Member of the House of Lords who can 'no longer contribute meaningfully' should retire," his statement read.

CENTRAL AMERICA INFRASTRUCTURE REPORT Q2 2015: NEW RESEARCH REPORT AVAILABLE AT FAST MARKET RESEARCH
We currently forecast an average of 3.43.3% real growth in Central America's construction industry value for 20145 (excluding Panama) which is considerably higher than our regional average estimate for 2014 at 0.2% (excluding Panama). We expect Nicaragua's construction industry to return to positive in 2015 while Panama's will contract, as the completion of the Canal expansion nears its end. We see high risks, small scale and limited growth opportunities across the region as a whole. A crucial factor underpinning our forecasts for infrastructure investments in future years is political and security risk. This is a particular concern in El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala where high levels of crime, homicide, violence, and insecurity exacerbate operational risks for companies willing to invest in BMI's Central America Infrastructure Report provides industry professionals and strategists, sector analysts, investors, trade associations and regulatory bodies with independent forecasts and competitive intelligence on the Panamanian, Guatemalan, Nicaraguan, Salvadoran, Costa Rican, Belizean, Honduran infrastructure and construction industry.

Videos

  • Go Pro ,Belize Xuanatunich,Mayan Ruins., 2min.

  • Zip Line Belize, 5min. Some video of us doing the a zip line course in Belize. We did the zip line course after cave tubing.

  • Belize vs. Cayman Islands - First Half (2015 Friendly/Amistoso Internacional), 39min.

  • Belize vs. Cayman Islands - Second Half (2015 Friendly/Amistoso Internacional), 47min.

  • Gabe and Gina in Belize, 4min. Caye Caulker.

  • From Dangria to Belize city, March 28 2015, 3min. Landing footage of a small plane flying over the jungles of Belize

  • 2015 BELIZE EXPERIENCE, 3min. Part of Loyola High School's Experience week.

  • Vu sur Terre Saison 2 Belize 2015 04 22, 52min.

  • Live While You Live - Sharks & Stingrays Belize Barrier Reef, 1.5min. A Bucket list Experience swimming with Sharks, Stingrays & the deadly Electric Eel! The best that life has to offer on the Belize Barrier Reef!

  • Podziemne miasta Belize Podziemie Maj�w [Lektor PL][Film Dokumentalny], 61min. Podziemne miasta Rzym [Lektor PL][Film Dokumentalny] Podziemne miasta Rzym [Lektor PL][Film Dokumentalny] Film dokumentalny o podziemiach ...

  • Cave Tubing in Belize - GoPro Video, 15min. Cave tubing shore excursion in Belize during a Carnival Cruise line stop on the Carnival Sunshine ship. A lot of the trip is inside the cave and is lit by headlamps. It's a beautiful walk through the jungle to the river and a relaxing float down and through the cave.