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Last night's TV news on Channel 7 and Channel 5
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The San Pedro Sun

Miguela Tun wins the grill at Castillo's Father's Day Raffle
Castillo's Hardware holds various raffles throughout the year, as a way of giving back to loyal customers and providing incentive for new ones. For Father's Day, the barrel was stuffed with a large amount of raffle tickets and ready for the draw. For every $25 purchase or payment towards an account, buyers were given a ticket to fill out and try out their luck at any of the three prizes. On Saturday, June 15th, a young customer was tasked with drawing the first two winning tickets, and third prize of a toolbox went to Pedro "Jimbo" Vasquez. Second prize, a 119-piece Do It Best tool set, went to Miguel Brice�o. The final prize, a charcoal grill, and perhaps one of the best things for a father to own, actually went to a grandmother! Renowned chef Miguela Tun will definitely be using the grill to serve up the family some delicious treats! Congratulations winners.

Consecutive best monthly police performance: Northern Formation & Orange Walk
For the second consecutive month, the Northern Zone and the Orange Formation of the Police Department have distinguished themselves as having registered the greatest reduction in major crimes, as confirmed by the comparative statistics for the month of May. Minister of National Security, Hon. John Saldivar today presented a Certificate of Appreciation and a Cheque for $1,000 to Senior Superintendent of Police Joseph Myvette, who heads the Northern Zone and is also the Officer Commanding the Orange Walk Formation, which forms part of the Northern Zone. The Cheque of $1,000 is for the best performance by the Northern Zone in reducing Major Crimes during the month of May, and the Certificate of Appreciation is for the best performance by the Orange Formation for the same period.

Misc Belizean Sources

Outlook for Tropical Development next few weeks
A quiet weekend is expected across the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean and the Atlantic with no tropical cyclone development expected. This quiet with no tropical development is anticipated to last into early next week before activity begins ramping up again for what could be a very busy July in the tropics. I'm also keeping tabs on a tropical wave way out near 40 West Longitude. This disturbance is expected to impact Barbados and the Windward Islands on Tuesday with gusty winds to 40 mph, heavy rain with squalls & rough seas. This tropical wave is then expected to propagate across the Caribbean and may be the trigger that sets off tropical development in the far western Caribbean at the very end of this month. The upward motion pulse of the Madden Julian Oscillation, which is basically a disturbance in the upper atmosphere which contributes to thunderstorm and tropical development, is expected to move into the Atlantic Basin by the first week of July and hang around through a good part of July. This could lead to a very active July with 2 to possibly 3 tropical storms or hurricanes developing during July. The long range forecast guidance is really starting to sniff out possible development in the western Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico starting as early as late next week and continuing into the first week of July. These forecast guidance members have been very consistent in this forecast and it is starting to make me sit up and take notice. This forecast of a ramp up in activity is strongly supported by the ensemble guidance which is forecasting significantly falling barometric pressures in the western Caribbean starting around the 1st of July.

Channel 5

Jordan Village flooded in the south
In the wake of Tropical Depression Two, there have been reports of flooding in various parts of the country, particularly the low-lying areas within the Stann Creek and Toledo districts.� [...]

Electricity rates to go down by ten percent
Belize Electricity Limited held its annual general meeting on Thursday night at the Biltmore Plaza.� About two-thirds of shareholders attended the event.� B.E.L.'s Board of Directors declared a dividend of [...]

At AGM, B.E.L. announces loss of $16 million
What is of interest to most customers is that B.E.L. hopes to reduce rates by ten percent at the end of July. The electricity company is seeking to get more [...]

Woman knocks down boy and flees scene
Summer break for schools is almost upon us, but one unfortunate primary school student may be out of school for quite some time. A near-fatal hit and run accident in [...]

Unemployment rate goes down by two percent
Preliminary results of the April 2013 Labor Force Survey conducted by the Statistical Institute of Belize show that the national unemployment rate has decreased. Compared to 2012, the rate has [...]

APAMO joins Placencia guides against Stake Bank
Public consultation on the proposed Stake Bank and North Drowned Caye development projects, multi-million dollar tourism endeavors to be undertaken by the Feinstein Group, was held on Wednesday in Belize [...]

Mega project at Northern 2 Caye rejected by Audubon
Earlier in the week, we told you about Puerto Azul, a project proposed by an Italian group that would cost hundreds of millions of dollars. It would be more massive [...]

G.O.B. wins one against OCEANA in court
Environmentalists are not only battling developments on land, they are also combating projects on the sea. Oceana and its partners COLA and the Belize Coalition to Save Our Natural Heritage [...]

OCEANA VP vows that battle will go all the way to CCJ
While Matura-Shepherd remains outwardly optimistic, she admits that the judgment of Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin is disappointing. And while both sides remained cordial as they filed out of court today, [...]

Tour guides get international certification
While they pour over the paperwork, a group of enterprising Belizeans are happy to take home the paper that deemed them to be qualified. Belizean tour guides Deland Gongora and [...]

Fresh out of jail and his ex gets him for trespassing
Just hours after thirty-seven year old Jerome Lamb was released from the Belize Central Prison where he had served three months following a domestic dispute, he was back in Police [...]

Mother and daughter duo charged for attacking woman
A mother and daughter who got into an altercation with another woman might think twice before getting in another fight. Twenty-year old Tiffara Meggs appeared before Magistrate Adolph Lucas where [...]

B.T.L. tower drops on home and vehicle in Sittee
Earlier in the news we told you about the flood waters in Jordan Village. Tropical Depression Two made landfall in southern Belize near Monkey River on Monday evening and with [...]

Dangriga assesses flood damage to be half million
Dangriga Town, as well as Hope Creek and Sarawee, experienced some effects of TD2. The waters have receded, allowing the Emergency Operations Center to conduct an evaluation of the damage [...]

Belize participates in regional meeting in Mexico
North of the border, the meeting of Foreign Ministers from Central America, Colombia, Domincan Republic and Mexico was held today in city of San Cristobal de las Casas in the [...]

Make a spike with Primary School National Volleyball Champions
Political parties may divide but sports always unite a country. Today extraordinary and talented youths took part in the opening of the national primary school volleyball championships. Duane Moody joined [...]

The Belize Times

Visa Scandal! - Godwin Hulse's Ministry Again!
Another major scandal has hit the Barrow Government. There seems to be no end to the incompetence and corruption that goes on in the Government. This time it is the Immigration Department, which falls under the sanctimonious Minister of Immigration Godwin Hulse. Once again it has to do with hustling and stealing involving visiting visas. The news has already reported on a Belizean visiting Cuba last week who was caught with additional passports with Belizean visiting visas for Chinese nationals. Like with the death of 13 babies at the KHMH, the destruction of the Maya monument at Noh Mul to use the material to bribe villagers in the village council elections, the Government remains deafeningly silent. The Minister of Immigration who supported the huge scandal involving rosewood in the Toledo has so far made no report to the nation. He has good reasons to keep quiet. Minister Godwin Hulse has been covering up a large scale scandal in which hundreds of visa foils have been stolen inside his Ministry. The BELIZE TIMES will expose him.

$10 Million Disaster! - Mayor says city residents can't get good streets and drains
FLOODED streets - that's what the UDP Belize City Council had us wading through this week no matter which part of Belize City you live in. While dozens of ...

ComPol says Police Officer had "no authority" to withdraw charges against Mark King
Commissioner of Police Allen Whylie has lashed out at the Police Officer who withdrew charges against UDP ...

BARROW LIED! - Cabinet Minutes of March 15, 2005 support PUP Leader
The letter written by Gian Gandhi to the Belize International Services Ltd. (BISL) dated 9 June 2003 invited the company "to enter into negotiations with the Government and the IFSC to address concerns and to work out an acceptable solution consistent with the laws of Belize ...

THINK ABOUT IT
IN-JUSTICE Belize's best human right judge, Hon. Denis Hanomansingh, is hearing Belize's worst case of Police abuse. This drama is unfolding in the Belmopan Supreme Court for the past two weeks with little or no coverage from the media. The media did give full coverage of the event back in ...

SYSTEM FAILURE
It is the type of story you only hear in regimes run by dictators who control all arms of government, from the judge right down to the police. Today, under the Dean Barrow regime, Belize received its official stamp and seal of a "failed state" as the Minister of Gangs, ...

Triple B's vs. Toledo Scorpions ends 1-1
The Triple B's of Belmopan drew 1-1 with the Toledo Scorpions when the Atlantic Bank women's football competition kicked off at the Football Federation of Belize Stadium in Belmopan on Sunday, June 16. The Toledo keeper Ravina Aleman ...

Oceana Wavemakers
Oceana Wavemakers canoe paddled by Chris Guydis, Brandon Lind and Jermaine Sanchez finished 1st when the Belize Canoe Association held a Father's Day race from Flowers Bank to the Black Orchid Resort ...

National Team defeats Cayo All Stars 7-0
The Belize National football team won 7-0 over Cayo All Stars Selection in a game played on Friday night at the FFB Goal Project stadium in Belmopan City. There were two games played, with all ...

CitCo increases driver's license fee
A notice published by the UDP Belize City Council warns residents that as of July 2013, the fee for driver's license renewal will be increased to $60. In these hard times, this is the worst kind of news for Belizeans. The council indicates in its notice that ...

Misguided Union Leadership
The most recent press release issued by the National Trade Union Congress of Belize - blindly supporting the Barrow administration's takeover of the International Business Company Registry (IBC) and the International Merchant Marne Registry of Belize (IMMARBE) is yet another example of the misguided leadership at ...

Vega gets license to import Pepsi
The Vega family has benefitted from yet another Government contract. This time it's bound to create controversy among the elephants in the business community. The BELIZE TIMES has been reliably informed that the Vegas have used their inside connections, similar to the rosewood exporting, to obtain ...

Mounting unapologetic anarchy, corruption, powermania and greed
By Norris Hall For the purpose of this commentary I will cite too examples as metaphors for everything that is going wrong in Belize. One is about traffic lights in Belize City. The other is about a woman, a political appointee of this government, whose hands were almost caught in the ...

AMAZING GRACE - Don't be the 2,000lb elephant!
Elephants are fascinating creatures. They are the largest mammals in the world, yet they are herbivores. Recently, a story surfaced about a baby elephant that was brought out of the wild and domesticated. This elephant fought valiantly against his arrest at first, and his captors had to use large thick ...

Reading and Writing Are Passions to Nurture the Soul
By Dr. Angela Banner Joseph "There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you." - Maya Angelou I have earned many degrees and accolades in my short lifetime, but one of my greatest accomplishments to date is conquering my fear of writing. Today, I am honored to share my ...

Fix Reggae Street!
Reggae Street has been one of the worst streets in Belize City for many months. The recent rains have now made it one of the most terrible streets ...

Hon. Mike Espat Inspires Graduates at Tumul K'in High School
Graduations are winding up all over the country and the BELIZE TIMES has taken special attention and focus on this very important ...

Address by Valedictorian Ermis Pi�eda, Class of 2013, Escuela Secundaria Tecnica Mexico
It is with pride that I stand before you all. While I speak as the valedictorian, I am sure that some of the views expressed will be echoed as shared sentiments by my fellow graduates. Many persons have contributed to our ...

Valedictory Address by Tajohn Raheem Gillett, Nazarene High School Class of 2013
It is a privilege to welcome you tonight as we collectively celebrate the efforts and hard work of young people; the young people that you have invested in, in some way or the other. Whether such investment was financial or ...

OCEANA honors Awardees at World Oceans Day reception
"We are extremely proud and gratified to honor Dr. Melanie McField with the Oceana in Belize Ocean Hero Award for ...

PUP says Mark King discharge brings "shame" on justice system
Some months ago, following a "not guilty" verdict in a murder trial in Belize City, the sister of the deceased described the justice system as "slack". Tuesday's turn of events in the Mark King case in the Corozal ...

More Public Fleecing? - GOB offers bid for "construction" at Youth Cadet, but identical contract awarded last year
Bid for contract to carry out "construction and rehabilitation" at Youth Cadet published two weeks ago There is an increasing need for Belizeans to keep a close watch on the spending of this sticky-fingered and greedy UDP Government. Between December 15th 2011 and February 10th 2012, the Ministry of Education ...

WOMAN IN THE HOUSE - Raw Politics and the Prime Minister!!!
By Dolores Balderamos Garcia Channel Five euphemistically pronounced that it was "amazed." Leader of the Opposition Francis Fonseca has said it is shocking and disgraceful, absolute arrogance and stupidity, and absolute madness. Belizeans are once more feeling shock and disbelief at the latest utterances of the Prime Minister. As Mr. Middleton ...

No closure! - Health authorities tell mothers that infants' deaths are their fault, propose psychiatric care
Instead of finding proper closure with the mothers of 13 babies who died from an unknown infection at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital ...

Finnegan on his way out - Mesopotamia up for grabs
Where is Minister of Housing, Michael Finnegan? This is the question that many Belizeans have been asking as no one has seen or heard from the usually garrulous UDP representative. He isn't at his constituency offices in Mesopotamia, and neither by the UDP HQ Brads. The ...

PM covers up public fleecing - Contract to Gaspar Vega's nephew for San Antonio Road paving was NOT cancelled
The BELIZE TIMES has received reliable information, supported by documents, which reveal that the contract to Imer ...

Arrogant Leadership
By FRANCIS W. FONSECA The most important thing coming out of Dean Barrow's "DISTRACTION" Press Conference last week was his response to a question asked about whether the Minister of Health, Pablo Marin, owed an apology to the families of the 13 babies who had tragically died at the KHMH over ...

Darrel Carter to Amandala: Not Taegar's Bank!
Dear Editor, I write in response to an editorial in the Amandala - "Quo Vadis PUP" - in which the editor is making the assumption that Prime Minister Dean Barrow's proposed National Bank is Dr. Leroy Taegar's Bank. Well, I was a student of the late Dr. Taegar, as a matter ...

Open Letter to PM concerning the Noh Mul
Dear Prime Minister Dean Barrow, Like many other organizations, the Belize Tourism Industry Association Orange Walk Chapter, sent out a press release expressing its disappointment and anger in relation to the senseless and atrocious act of ignorance pertaining to the destruction of the tallest mound at the Noh Mul Archaeological Site ...

Name change for Football National Team?
Dear Editor, Why did our football team come up with the name for our national team as "Jaguars". I think the University of Belize had already used "Jaguars" for their sports teams. We should have been innovative and used a name like "Punta Rockers" to help promote our cultural music. For ...

Not happy with new Memorial Park
Dear Editor: I'm so disappointed in the way they have turned the Memorial Park from a park to a market place. The Memorial Park has been traditionally where we Belizeans could go to relax and enjoy some good sea breeze. Now they're turning it into some market place taking away the use ...

FECTAB campaigns against BTB's treachery
Ms. Michele Paige President Florida Caribbean Cruise Association Miami, Florida Tue 18 June 2013 Dear Ms. Paige, Greetings from Belize and from FECTAB. It is with deep regret that we must ask the FCCA at this stage in time, to cancel/postpone the FCCA Platinum Conference to be held in Belize in the national interest of tourism and ...

Blogs


When people think of Belize, the first things that usually come to mind are the world class dive sites, the pristine rainforests, the remnants of the vast Maya Empire dotting the landscape, and the warm friendly smiles of the Belizeans. Let's not forget another major attraction - Belizean food. Belizean cuisine reflects the little country's multicultural populace and colourful history. Add all the varied ingredients starting from early Maya settlement through to the pirate past, the British settlers, the vibrant African influences, the attempted Spanish conquest, the Mennonite farming communities and the more recent influx of many other cultures and you have a recipe for something very special indeed. Meals that originated thousands of years ago are still served every day in Belize. Tamales, for example, have their origin in the earliest Maya cuisine, as does the savoury pibil style of cooking meats. Barbeques got their start with the Buccaneers, whose name comes from buccan, an Arawak word for smoking meat, an occupation pirates busied themselves with while on shore or traded to keep a supply of meat aboard their vessels. Our Belizean barbeques are a throwback to the days of pirates standing around the cooking meat drinking ale or rum and swapping stories.

The big night
True to form it always rains the day of the big block party. This year it was 2 short heavy bursts around 3:15, hoping that is all we get but waterproofing myself in case. It is going to be a super fun night tonight, been texting with Dick, Leisa, Laura, Jane and emailing with Hayley, we are all excited for the party. I have already decided I am taking the day off tomorrow.so you will have to wait till Monday for party pictures. Here are some good ones I took to celebrate the opening of Lobster Season 2013, Charles cooking up lobster on the grill at Estel's.

International Sources

STAY: BLACK ROCK LODGE
Black Rock Lodge is the ultimate Belizean jungle lodge, located a few miles outside San Ignacio and down a dirt road that leads you into a high-walled, karstic river valley. All the cabinas are perched on the hillside with spectacular river views and wildlife viewing opportunities from the front porch. The main dining area offers more opportunities to spot birds and monkeys on the opposing hillside or watch intrepid guests go over the waterfall on an inner tube directly below. The lodge is a great place to base yourself for a range of activities and sights, such as Maya ruins, cave exploration, canoeing and rafting, hiking and bird watching.