The April 10, 2016 issue of The STAR (Cayo) is online HERE

This Week's Stories:

  • POLICE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR TWO SUSPECTS IN THE SELENA MURDER:
    residents of Selena Village, Cayo for their role in the murder of 63- year-old Guatemalan laborer, Edgar Alfonso Perdomo Aldana, of Selena Village. The persons of interest are Guillermo Duarte, 27, and Marlon Padilla, 22. Sometime around 3:00 a.m. on Saturday, April 2, Aldana was drinking in the Iguana Creek Government School compound, about 50 feet from his residence, with his friend Ruben Manzon. According to reports, this was when Duarte and Padilla approached them. Words were exchanged between the men and a fight started. During the fight, either Duarte or Padilla pulled out a machete and began to chop his rivals. Manzon received multiple chop wounds to the upper part of his body but was able to escape and ran for help. Unfortunately, Aldana was not as lucky. He could not escape the fury of his attackers. He was chopped multiple times to the head and body and bled out at the scene of the fight.
  • Sacred Heart Primary School Student Hit By Truck - In Critical Condition:
    Reports reaching us indicate that during the school lunch break, a Sacred Heart Primary student was hit by a truck owned by Bahadur & Sons Trucking. The incident occured in front of the popular Trin's Deli located on Eve Street in San Ignacio. Eye witnesses report that everything transpired so quickly, resulting in the little boy being hit and laying on the street with blood coming from his mouth and behind his head. The little boy was subsequently rushed to the San Ignacio polyclinic where he is listed in a critical condition. (Subsequent unconfirmed reports suggest the little boy succumed to his injuries)
  • New Cayo Top Cop - Happy With Community Involvement:
    Superintendent Richard Rosado, Officer Commanding San Ignacio Formation, has been the top cop in Cayo for two months now and he is settling in well. Rosado emphasizes the importance of community policing and sees the department as simply an extension of the community it serves. In order to keep crime under control in the area, it will take the residents of San Ignacio, Santa Elena, and the 20 surrounding villages to effectively police their space. Offciers of the formation are enforcement agents that act on behalf of the people they serve. "It has been a wonderful experience so far because we have received the full support of the community," Rosado told the STAR. He is in the process of setting up a "Cayo Formation Advisory Board" to better police the jurisdiction.
  • Drugs Found In Red Creek And Santa Elena Town:
    Cayo Police conducted a series of searches over the last week. At 2:39 p.m. on Monday, April 4, police conducted a search in an empty lot on the George Price Highway in the Red Creek area. This led to the discovery of a plastic bag which contained 198 grams of Cannabis. Noone was in the immediate area; theerfore it was labeled and deposited as "Found Property". Later that day, conducted a search in an empty lot on Carmen Street, Santa Elena Town which led to the discovery of a black plastic bag containing 710 grams of Cannabis. This bag was labeled and deposited as "Found Property".
  • Belize Produces $27 Million More In Goods And Services In 2015:
    The fourth quarter preliminary estimates by the Statistical Institute of Belize show that the level of economic activity during the months of October to December 2015 increased by 0.6 percent when compared to the same quarter in 2014. The total value of goods and services produced in Belize was $661.1 million, up $3.7 million from $657.4 million in 2014. For the first nine months of the year, the level of production in the country was 1.2 percent higher than it was in 2014, as the relatively strong growth experienced during the first quarter largely offset declines in the subsequent two quarters. Therefore, the economy grew by 1.0 percent in the year 2015, just over $27 million in goods and services.
  • Cost Of Living Increases But Falls Slightly In Cayo:
    April 7, 2016: Cost of living has increased slightly in Belize, according to the Statistical Institute of Belize, but San Ignacio/ Santa Elena saw price fell by a fraction of a percentage point. SIB released its latest statistics on the Consumer Price Index on Wednesday, March 30, and it reveals that cost of living increased by 0.3 percent in February of 2016. According to S.I.B., the All-Items Consumer Price Index stood at 102.7 in February of 2016, up from 102.5 in the same month last year. The price of beef, pigtail, eggs, cabbage and premium gasoline increased by 20.1 percent, 8 percent, 17.2 percent, 37.6 percent and 27.1 percent; respectively, in the month of February 2016 as compared to 2015.
  • Why Mexicans Are Troubled By Donald Trump:
    that drives Donald Trump crazy apart from yellow number 5 hair colour," jokes Chumel Torres, a Mexican comedian that has taken the internet by storm. His show, El Pulso de la Republica (The Pulse of the Republic), is Mexico's answer to the US late-night talk show The Daily Show. While there are few Mexicans who find US Republican candidate Donald Trump funny, laughing in the face of adversity is the strategy Torres has decided to adopt and he seems to be doing something right. The comedian, who originally trained as an engineer, has 1.5 million subscribers to his Spanish-language YouTube channel and a growing number of fans for his newer English-language version too. The appetite for Trump gags is high but it is starting to wear thin, Torres says.
  • NEBL Playoffs Fast Approaching As Teams Fight For Playoff Positions:
    Upcoming Games There are three weeks remaining in the NEBL regular season, as each game becomes even more critical, as teams are making their final playoff push. Below is the schedule for the upcoming games. Friday night at 9 p.m. - Cayo Western Ballaz at Belmopan Bandits Friday night at 9 p.m. - San Pedro Tiger Sharks at Belize City No Limit Saturday night at 8 p.m. - Smart Belize Hurricanes at Independence Thunderbolts Saturday night at 9 p.m. - San Pedro Tiger Sharks at Orange Walk Running Rebels Sunday at 1 p.m. - Independence Thunderbolts at Orange Walk Running Rebels.
  • United States to Donate $13 Million for Belize Law Enforcement:
    U. S. Ambassador to Belize H.E. Carlos Moreno and the Right Honorable Prime Minister Dean Barrow signed the 16th Amendment to the Letter of Agreement (LOA) implementing the International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) program through the Central America Regional Security Initiative (CARSI) on April 7, 2016. The U.S. Government has provided over $35 million in programs and grants to Belize through the Central America Regional Security Initiative (CARSI) since 2008. Today's agreement provides USD $6,450,000 in funding to be used for the following projects: Improved Border Inspection, Vetted Units, Capacity Enhancement, Justice Sector Reform, and Community Policing.
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