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Specials and Events

Last night's TV news on Channel 7, Channel 5, LOVETV, PGTV, West Vision (Cayo) and CTV 3. Also with the most recent Open Your Eyes, Rise and Shine Morning Show, and the Dickie Bradley Specials


The San Pedro Sun

6-a-side Interoffice Football Tournament approaching quarterfinals
After 12 weeks of the 6-a-side Interoffice Football Tournament regular season, playoffs were held on Monday, September 12th to Thursday, September 15th. Four teams: Victoria's House, Mambo Boys, Rain and Martha's Ice, have already qualified for quarterfinals. As usual, fans gathered at the Honorable Louis Sylvestre Sporting Complex to support their favorite team. The San Pedro Town Council's Sport Committee has arranged for the quarterfinals to take place on Friday, September 23rd and Saturday, 24th at the Sporting Complex. All fans are encouraged to come out and cheer on their favorite teams!

Belize at 35: Strong and Together as One!
Ambergris Caye joined the thousands of Belizeans countrywide in celebrating the 35th anniversary of Belize's Independence. The patriotic festivities began with the official Independence Eve and midnight flag raising ceremonies on Tuesday, September 20th at the Honourable Louis Sylvestre Sports Complex. The celebrations concluded on Independence Day, Wednesday, September 21st with a spectacular parade through the main streets of San Pedro Town, ending at the Central Park with Gilharry 7 Band keeping the celebratory atmosphere into the night. Independence Eve official ceremonies started with the arrival of the various dignitaries, after which, Mayor Daniel Guerrero welcomed the thousands in attendance. "Indeed, looking at the thousands of patriotic Belizeans tonight gathered not only in San Pedro Town, but in all major municipalities and cities across the country, we can proudly say that Independence is not a dream, but a reality for every Belizean," Guerrero said at the beginning of his speech.

Independence Day Address by Leader of the Opposition Honorable John Briceno
Thirty-five years ago today the Father of our Nation the Rt. Hon. George Price said and I quote: "Belize is a people with all the attributes of nationhood having one flag, one government, one constitution. Our mind imbues the democratic process. Our hand works the mixed economy. Our heart beats with social justice and our soul cherished treasures of the spirit." Today is a day to reflect and remember those audacious words for they capture the very essence of our identity. They define us as a people who desire to live free, and who work to build a fair, just and better nation. And we will continue to do so.

Independence Day Address by Prime Minister Honorable Dean Barrow
This year's September Celebrations came at a time of great division in our country. Notwithstanding that it was not even 12 months since the people spoke in the last general elections, at which the results were decisive, the tug of war between the Ruling and Opposition parties has become more contentious. The Labour movement has also been beset by a degree of factionalism. And even within our Church community fundamental philosophical and doctrinal differences have beaten back the spirit of Ecumenism and highlighted some seemingly irreconcilable points of view.

Ambergris Today

Prime Minister Barrow's Address as Belize Turns 35
In his address to the nation of Belize, Prime Minister Hon. Dean Barrow, highlighted the fact that the September Celebrations come at a major crossroads in Belizean history, siting uneasiness and a great division in our country. According to the Prime Minister, Belize appears to have never been less "together as one," pointing to political as well as divisions in the labour and church sectors, acknowledging that the country is currently suffering from a recession, but that he is hopeful of an economic recovery which he sees just around the corner. Below is a transcript of Prime Minister's address to the nation as it turns 35.

Misc Belizean Sourcesmzz

Atlantic Bank Cheque Deposit Notice
As of October 7, 2016 we will no longer be accepting cheques without a MICR line or outdated Atlantic Bank cheques.

Four Mcafee related Belizeans don't want their interviews aired in Showtime documentary "Gringo."
Their attorney has sent information to the producer of the documentary claiming they were either paid or under the influence of alcohol at the time of their interviews. The documentary premiered at the Toronto Film Festival recently and John Mcafee has released a video featuring the same people claiming to have falsified statements made. The 4 individuals: Tyrone Moralez, Zaira Majil, Saka Canul and Cassia Chavarria ) will host a press conference during which they will speak new truths. Though it had been known from last year that the documentary would air by summer 2016, this objection comes days before the September 24th, airing on the cable network.

Two 20 minute power interruptions 7:00am to 7:20am & 4:40pm to 5:00pm on Saturday, September 24 & Sunday, September 25: entire Orange Walk & Corozal Districts
BEL to replace poles, downguys and ground wires on transmission system.

Mounteing a satellite transmitter on a scarlet macaw
With support from WCS Peten and the Belize Wildlife and Referral Clinic, FCD has mounted a satellite transmitter on one scarlet macaw in order to help us understand their movement patterns in the Chiquibul-Maya Mountains.

Corozal Carnival Parade
Great photos...

Independence Day Parade 2016
More Great photos...

BART'S BASH SAILING RESULTS
Provisional results of the Bart's Bash world wide sailing race are up. Venues could choose to race on Saturday or on Sunday, September 17 or 18. The event organizers in San Pedro chose Sunday to hols the race for Belize's field of 22 boats. All the well-established and known-to-be-organized clubs have now reported in. Therefore, for all intents and purposes, here, still unofficially, but quite encouragingly, is how the Belize sailors fared: In the worldwide field of 174 Laser Radials, San Pedro's Andy Milner is ranked 3rd overall. Among the Belizean sailors still of formal age for Laser Radials, Antonio Ricardez, 16, of Belize City is right behind Andy in 4th; Andy's former cadets in San Pedro - sixteen-year-olds Sarah White and Blanca Velasquez - finished 5th and 6th respectively. Antonio's sister Nashira joins the others, finishing 10th in their class. In the worldwide field of 196 competitors aged 8 to 15 sailing Optimist Dinghies in Bart's Bash, Kevin Velasquez, age 15, from San Pedro and the 2015 Belize National Champion, is atop Bart's Bash Optimist class leaderboard - in first place and ranked number one. out of 190. San Pedro's Caroline Sersland, age 12, who took 3rd in Belize's last National Championships, is in 7th place, Nicholas Lausan of San Pedro finished 9th. Out of 196, they are all in the top 10!

This weekend's Turtle Beach Cleanup
I am appealing to anyone who likes Hawksbill Turtles to please help get our team of 24 volunteers to the beach for this weekend's Turtle Beach Cleanup. We need to get from Gales Point Village across the lagoon then we walk two miles to the beach and back. We need a sponsor or two to pay for the boat. Any contribution, no matter how small, adds up. If you can and want to help, plz call or txt me at 635-6012.

Morelet hatchings
At this time of the year, all the Morelet's nests should have hatched in their region. Yes they are cute, but beware of Mama Croc!!! She will defend her hatchlings accordingly. So, if you see any cute hatchlings watch from afar- and who knows! Maybe you will be lucky enough to see their motherly love in action!

Missing dog in San Pedro
Anyone seen Stella? Beautiful Stella still missing! Asking the community of San Pedro to please come together to help bring her home. She got a bit scared of the noise from fireworks Tuesday night and we haven't seen her since. My number is 630-1241 if you think you've seen her. Her collar has her name and my number on it as well. CASH REWARD for her return!!!

INDEPENDENCE DAY ADDRESS by Belmopan Mayor Khalid Belisle
It is once again my privilege to welcome you to our nation's capital, this City of Promise, as we officially celebrate the now 35th anniversary of our young nation attaining Independence. Although it has only been a year since we last came together like this, we have had significant events unfold that have altered the landscape and course of our country. We have once more gone through the traditionally peaceful process of free and fair general elections, been visited by what is considered a minor hurricane but whose effects are still being felt a month and a half later and had the age old dispute with our neighbor once again brought to the fore of the national discourse in a very real and tangible way. It is why despite the many submissions I am certain they received, I'm not sure that the National Celebrations Commission could have chosen a more fitting theme for this year: "Sovereign and Strong - Together as One!"

Miss Am�rica Latina del Mundo pageant
Mayor Daniel Guerrero, the San Pedro Town Council and Staff would like to wish the best of luck to Michelle Estrella Nunez on her participation in the Miss Am�rica Latina del Mundo pageant. She left Belize to partake in the pageant activities which will lead on to the final night taking place on September 30, 2016 in Cancun, M�xico. We are already proud of Michelle and we know she will be representing Belize to the best of her abilities without a doubt! Good luck Michelle and have fun!

Orange Walk Carnival Highlights
Lots of great photos!

Paradise Theater playing this weekend
Alice Through the Looking Glass, The Legend of Tarzan, Before I Wake, The Purge: Election Year.

SAN PEDRO HIGH GIRLS BASKETBALL
All the best to our female basketball team who will be playing with Panama later today. Go SPHS!

Channel 7

PM and Teachers Union Meet In Overtime
On Monday, teachers shut down schools countrywide for their demonstration against corruption in the Barrow Administration. Well this evening, in the aftermath of that show of strength and anger from the teachers, the Prime Minister held a scheduled meeting with the BNTU's Council of Management. The main agenda item? Their 8 demands on the topic of good governance. That conversation started at 2:00 pm at the Biltmore Plaza Hotel, and while it was scheduled for three hours, it finished just before newstime, taking up four and a half hours! Our Daniel Ortiz has been there all afternoon into evening, and he just finished with the interviews - which we'll have for you a little later on.

Father of Two Murdered On Independence Day
An Independence day murder has left 2 young kids fatherless. 27 year old Jesu Mai was stabbed three times in front of the Blue Angels night club. He had gone out to celebrate after the fireworks but it seems he just didn't know when to quit. Here Mai's story. Jesus Mai had been working with these men on this clinic for about 6 weeks. Mai was grouting the tiles on this side of the wall, but today his coworkers had to finish it for him. That's because he was stabbed to death in front of Blue Angels Night Club yesterday morning. Supt. Richard Rosado, OC, San Ignacio: "Initial investigation reveal that the deceased was socializing at a local night club on Hudson Street and sometime after exiting the night club he was engaged in a misunderstanding with another male individual who subsequently inflicted the stab wounds on Mr. Jesus Mai .The deceased subsequently ran and collapsed on King Street. Police are still trying to ascertain a motive but we do know alcohol may have been a contributing factor."

Stabbing After Murder? What the Devil At Blue Angels?
And there was another stabbing incident this morning in front of that same Blue Angels Night Club, but this one wasn't fatal. Benjamin Pinelo and Antonio Aldana got into a fight with 2 other men outside the club. Pinelo was stabbed twice to the upper body and Aldana was stabbed 3 times. One of them got away and collapsed on the Bullet Tree road in front of a barbershop. Both men were taken to the hospital then were transferred to the KHMH. Police gave us more details on this case. Supt. Richard Rosado, OC, San Ignacio: "Police received report of a fight in progress in front of a local night club on Hudson Street. San Ignacio Police visited the scene and upon arrival at the scene observed 2 male Hispanic individuals suffering from apparent stab wounds to the upper part of body. Initial investigation revealed that Benjamin Pinelo of a San Ignacio Town address and Antonio Aldana of a Santa Elena Town address were socializing at a night club on Hudson Street and after exiting the club they were engaged in a misunderstanding with 2 other male individuals who inflicted the apparent stab wounds on the men."

Correlation Between Cayo Carnage and Booze Consumption
Now the one common detail in these stories is alcohol. We have reported on several murders in the west fueled by drunkenness, in fact there have been numerous stabbing deaths in front of that same Blue Angels Night Club. But not only Blue Angels, there is also the Pasadita Bar on the Spanish Lookout road where there have been 2 murders in 4 months this year. Cayo Police told us how they are dealing with this problem. Supt. Richard Rosado, OC, San Ignacio" "I would like to say that 90% of our incidents are results of alcohol and bar related incidents. Presently we are working with the liquor licensing board and the town council to see how we can address these factors that are contributing to violence within the liquor establishment."

Four Claim They Lied For Money On McAfee Documentary
On Saturday night, SHOWTIME is airing a documentary about John McAfee - who made international headlines for his outlaw lifestyle in Belize. He's been the subject of all types of US news reports and special features investigating the death of his American neighbor on San Pedro, Greg Faull - but the new documentary is the first extensive study of McAfee's life and times in Belize, and is expected to make strong claims about Mcafee's alleged connection to the Faull murder. For the past week, McAfee has been blasting the documentary on social media, and, now, four Belizeans who participated in building that narrative for the documentary film-makers and recanting their statements. They say they lied, or were induced to lie by the film's producer Nanette Burstein. They've gotten attorney Bryan Neal to write the producers and tell them not to air any portion of the film showing their interviews - and today in Belize City they held a press conference to tell the media why they lied about McAfee in their interviews:...

Caleb Hugs It Out With VP Biden
While his opponents were filing legal appeals in the Supreme Court Registry, Caleb Orozco was in New York at the UN General Assembly, rubbing shoulders with political powerhouses. Orozco told us that he was the guest speaker at a UN General Assembly side event organized by the UN LGBT Core group yesterday in New York. After, that, by arrangement, he met and embraced US Vice President Joe Biden and others. He tells us the Biden encounter was by prior arrangement.

Cops Catching Cannabis and Ammunition
On Tuesday afternoon police discovered 14 ounces of cannabis while searching an abandoned lot on Supal Street. Later that night officers conducted a search on another lot on Supal Street where they found a black plastic bag containing a .38 revolver. On Wednesday at another abandoned lot on Fern Lane, police found a Gatorade bottle containing thirteen live .9mm rounds, seven 12 gauge cartridges, and nine 5.62 live rounds.

Talking Trade Licenses With City Council
The Belize City Council held a public consultation today unveiling their proposed plan to reform the current trade license system. These changes have not yet been finalized, however, and the City Council has opened discussions for public input and consultation - on what may result higher trade license fees:... Darrell Bradley, Mayor - Belize City: "Well, we are having a series of consultations. We have been working with the Chamber of Commerce, Ministry of Local Government, the Economic Development Council of the Central Government to try to look at a ways that we can reform the trade license. The consultant then put together a proposal that we want to release, that we have released today for public consumption, input, and feedback. The main idea is that we want to make the trade license system more predictable, more fairer, and cheaper."

Independence Day Fire on Pen Road
Yesterday, while everyone was enjoying the Independence Day Parade, a Belize City family was having their world tuned upside down. That's after their Penn Road house completely burnt down. The investigators from the National Fire Department are still making their inquiries at this time, but they believe that it may have been caused by faulty electrical wiring. This morning, Orin Smith, the Station Manager for Fire Department, briefed us on what details they have at this time: Orin Smith, Station Mgr., BNFS: "On Wednesday the 21st of September 2016, at approximately 2:12pm the National Fire Service received and had responded to reports of a structural fire on number 138 Neal Penn Road, Belize City. On arrival on scene, the upper flat of a 2 story structure approximately 16x12 in size was seen engulfed in flames."

PM Met With Unions
As we told you at the top of the newscast, the Prime Minister met with the teachers Union's council of management today. The meeting which was scheduled for three hours pushed on to four hours and 10 MINUTES - as the teachers demanded answers for all eight points on the list of demands which they made to the PM two weeks ago. The meeting finished just before 6:30, and here's what the BNTU National President had to say when it was done:... Luke Palacio - BNTU, President: "We had 8 points that we needed to be discussing with the Prime Minister and so it took all this time. We've discussed, we have a number of issues that we've raised. In fact we address all the 8 points we had in the letter we sent to the Prime Minister and we are now prepared to go back and discused those responses and then determine what happens next." Daniel Ortiz, 7News: "Is the council of management satisfied with those responses?" Luke Palacio - BNTU, President: "You didn't understand what I said just now? I said we are going back to discuss the responses, so we cannot tell you that we are satisfied and neither are we saying that we are not satisfied, but we have a process and we keep on saying to the media, the BNTU has a process that it follows and you'll have to allow us to make that process work."

Talking Poultry For The Entire Caribbean
Fried, baked, stewed, barbequed....it doesn't matter how you cook it, chicken is and will continue to be an integral part of the Belizean diet. That is why the Belize and the Caribbean Poultry Associations are trying to ensure that the chicken you consume is quality meat, and in order to do that, they have to upgrade their management and production mechanisms. Today the members and stakeholders in the Poultry industry met at the San Ignacio Hotel for their 3rd Annual Technical Symposium. I found out more. Desmond Ali, Executive Director, Caribbean Poultry Association: "What we are doing is that we have an industry that uses state of the art technology, but on top of that state of the art technology, there are management techniques and scientific techniques that have to be imposed in the use of the technology to improve performance of the birds. Ultimately what we are trying to get, is trying to keep the cost to consumer down as far as we can."

The Passing of A PC
Police Constable Jason Hall made the news in July of 2015, when he was viciously beaten in the head by a man who pretended to be a good Samaritan by stopping to help him fix a blowout, and then ended up stealing his car. Hall received serious injury, and had other long term effects from those head injuries. Well, tonight we have learned that he died on Tuesday, September 20th. At this time we do not know his cause of death. The young constable had been attached to Precinct 3 in Belize City. His funeral will be held next week Monday in the north.

Briceno, Barrow and The Bishop
If you follow the Independence Day Official Ceremonies in Belmopan, you'll know that the speeches are considered a time for wholesome, patriotic reflection. But this year, politics has polarized everything - even prayer! Catholic Bishop Chris Glancy started off the ceremony with a prayer that would have even made those thieves in the temple run for cover!:... Christopher Glancy, Bishop Roman Catholic Diocese: "For 35 years the people of belie have elected numerous governments to act on our behalf and rule the nation." "Sometimes God of justice we have used our sovereign power to steal from the poor and the powerless. Those in power have fixed the scales and use the system to personal advantage, ultimately cheating the nation of its limited resources for the gain of a few." Khalid Belisle, Mayor - Belmopan: "Now I won't stand before you in some idealistic bout of na�vet�, pretend that all is well and good. We have our fair share of challenges. But I am confident that as those before us have, we will meet and overcome them, so that future generations of Belizeans have the same opportunity and prosperity that you and I have."