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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

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Ambergris Today

Fate Gives to Host San Pedro's First Hope Kitchen Event At Sandbar
Fate Gives will be hosting San Pedro's first soup kitchen event in January at Sandbar. Beginning at 6 p.m. on Jan. 8, the new project entitled "Hope Kitchen" will provide a healthy meal to families that might not otherwise be able to afford the luxury of a dinner out on Ambergris Caye. Fate Gives is partnering with local San Pedrano, Hermojenes "Moncho" Acosta, known as "Teacher Moncho", to identify families in need who would benefit from the Hope Kitchen project. The initial event will be hosted for these families selected by Teacher Moncho. "The idea of Hope Kitchen is very near and dear to my heart and was inspired by Jon Bon Jovi's Soul Kitchen," says Brittney O'Daniel, chairman of Fate Gives and co-owner of Sandbar restaurant. "I want to enable all residents of San Pedro to have access to healthy food options and be able to enjoy a night out with their family, all in a beautiful setting."

Friends Come Together to Form 'Fate Gives' Charity
Four San Pedro resident women who have come to call La Isla Bonita/Belize their home are now banded together as a group looking to do more for a community that has given so much to them. Brought together by fate and a set of unlikely circumstances, these four women have discovered a common goal and the desire for giving back. Brittney O'Daniel, Erin De Santiago, Brittany Munson, and Jessica Salo have founded the charity organization that goes by the name of Fate Gives. With the support of Joe Chung, Teacher "Moncho" Hermojenes Acosta and Dorian Nunez at Ambergris Today, Fate Gives is committed to providing an economically effective way to enrich the lives of people around the world, one project at a time. "We want to involve the community, have local input on where resources and funds are most needed, and maintain absolute transparency on where every dollar goes," commented Erin De Santiago, Public Relations Director for Fate Gives. "We all feel it's very important to closely work with locals to identify the best way to give back to the island."

Changes in Police High Command for Greater Efficiency
The Ministry of National Security announces the following changes in the Ministry and in the high command of the Police Department to achieve greater efficiency and effectiveness as we begin the New Year. Mr. David Henderson leaves the post of Acting Commissioner of Police and takes up the post of Director of the National Forensic Science Service. Mr. Allen Wyllie is promoted from Deputy Commissioner of Police to the post of Acting Commissioner of Police, thereby assuming command of the Police Department. Assistant Commissioner of Police Elodio Aragon Jr. is promoted to Acting Deputy Commissioner of Police with additional responsibility for Operations, thereby leaving the post of Officer Commanding Eastern Division. Assistant Commissioner of Police Miguel Segura moves from Head of National Crimes Investigation Branch to Officer Commanding Eastern Division.

Misc Belizean Sources

Grenade discovered beneath Belize church
Bomb explosive experts have recovered a live grenade underneath a church here amid concerns that it could have killed or caused severe injuries to children who normally use the playground on a daily basis. Lieutant Colonel James Requena, a bomb expert with the Belize Defence Force (BDF) said that the grenade is amiong the 24 missing from the British Forces here in 2004. "It's a L-109-A1 highe xplosive grenade fragmentation from the similar batch that was missing from the British Forces. So the count now is at eight with 16 remaining out of 24," he said, adding that many children from the neighbourhood play in the yard of the Church of God. "Had one of them found it and didn't know what it was and pulled the pin, we would have had several kids injured or dead on the sport."

Commentary: It will take more than reshuffling the top ranks of the Belize police force
From all my years of being in the Belize Police Force -- from 1973 to 1978 I worked at Patrol Branch, Criminal Investigation Branch, NCO I/C Criminal Investigation Branch Orange Walk District and NCO I/C Hattieville -- I am convinced that crime prevention is always better than crime detection. The Belize Police Force over the years has been spending too much time on crime detection and they have failed in detecting many of the crimes, prosecuting the criminals and convicting them. Most of the crime prevention measures that have been proposed and implemented seem to have had little impact on crime reduction. Getting rid of gangs and guns with a special task force now should be their number one focus and that would stop the violent murders that are taking place in the country. The Police Force know who are the gangs in Belize because they have said that in many of their press conferences.

Feature Belize on your Desktop! PACT's 2013 Desktop Backgrounds
This year, why not feature Belize on your desktop? Choose nature images from one of our twelve 2013 Desktop Backgrounds! It's always a hard decision choosing which of our many photos to include but we hope you like our selection this year!

VIDEO: The Belize Zoo
Day Trip from San Pedro, combined with Cave Tube, Jungle Zip Line or Mayan ruins.

THIRTY YEARS OLD AND SOARING: Belize Zoo at 30
On 12/12/12 (at 12 noon, of course) The Belize Zoo celebrated its 30th anniversary in grand style. The festivities started with a delicious lunch followed by a brief history of the zoo presented by Founding Director Sharon Matola, a delightful performance of Lucky Boy's song by the La Democracia Pre-School Gibnuts (featuring lead guitarist Sharon "Keef" Matola), and some thrilling singing, dancing, and drumming by a talented group of Garifuna performers. After this rousing start, U.S. Ambassador Vinai Thummalapally and area representative, Dolores Balderamos, cut the ribbon to the newly-rejuvenated Gerald Durrell Visitor's Centre. The Durrell Center now includes "Uppie's Classroom", which will be the site of fun-filled educational activities for many of the schoolchildren who visit the zoo.

January Workshops at the Small Business Development Center!
Register with us at 223-7427 or email us at [email protected]

Channel 7

Arrests for New Years Night Shootings
It's been 3 days since the murder of 45 year-old Orlando Williams, and the near fatal shooting of 48 year-old Marco Valle, who continues on life support tonight. Yesterday, we told you about the GSU who labeled it as a deliberate act by affiliates of the George Street Gang. Well, the news tonight is that 2 brothers, 23-year-old Akeem Humes and 20-year-old Shakeem Baizer, have been charged for the shootings, and are on remand tonight. But their families are angry because according to them, they have airtight alibis which can be verified. His sister called us out to the courthouse after their arraignment to vent her family's discontent. Here's how she defended them, under our questioning: Tracey Baizar - sister of men accused "Honestly I just think that they are abstracting them really and truly because me personally - they were at home with me. Akeem Humes was at 8 miles with my mom at a dinner having fun.

GSU: Occupy George Street
Heard of Occupy Wall Street? Well how about "Occupy George Street"? That's what the GSU has basically been doing for the past three days - after the New Year's night shootings. So far they've found a grenade, a loaded 9mm pistol, and a pair of Molotov Cocktails. And this morning, they found a high powered prohibited pistol. Between 5:00 and 11:00 this morning, the GSU searched the residence of one of the key figures in the George Street Gang. Nothing was found inside his house, but the search continued into in a property across the street. That's where they found two otherwise nondescript wooden blocks 6 feet apart. They only stood out because each had a plywood cover nailed on to it. When police opened it up, inside they found a black 45mm pistol, Glock 30 along with a magazine fitted in a mold; the wood was actually carved to fit the firearm and the magazine inside. It's a prohibited firearm, but couldn't be linked to anyone so it was deposited as found property. The other wooden block was also molded to hold a pistol inside - but it was empty.

Dr. Gayle Explains How Detentions Lead to Gang Retaliations Against The State
So while two men have been arrested and the GSU has George Street on lockdown for the time being - we end the first week of this new year with a sense of foreboding. That's because the random New Year's Night shootings of two Hispanic men has left society shaken. Could the Carlos Valle and Orlando Williams have been just random victims: marked for death only because they are Hispanic males over the age of 40 - and the shooters saw that as the best way to retaliate against the state for a New Year's Eve preventative detention? It's a scary possibility - and yesterday we asked Violence Anthropologist Dr. Herbert Gayle in Jamaica to decode such behaviour. He's done the most comprehensive study on gangs in Belize - and he told us that the shootings may have had nothing to do with race, it might have simply been the most effective way to lash out at the state after an oppressive lockdown:.. Dr. Herbert Gayle, violence anthropologist "I have seen in many places where if the murder rate is looking very bad they would just go and arrest the whole gang or clean up a community or what is called social cleansing and that would allow things to stabilize for a while. They are short term measures but extremely good."

Man Shot In City While Going to Buy Boledo
Just as the news finished up last night, our newsroom received word that there was a shooting on Lovely Lane. We can report tonight, that the man who was targeted was 20 year-old Paul Alvarez Jr., who is recovering at the KHMH. We responded and found police security the area, where the Scenes of crime personnel were putting down 11 markers, while they were retrieving 8 mm expended shells, 2 live rounds and one slug. According to police, at around 7:35 p.m. he was inside Ming Ming Shop when a dark complexioned man arrived in front and fired a barrage of gunshots at him and escaped. Alvarez suffered injuries to his right hand, right arm pit, and the right side of his back, and he was rushed to the KHMH, where he is in stable condition. We made extensive efforts to try to speak to his mother, who flatly declined comment.

Shot By Cops, Escaped Hospital, Accused of Robbing Clerk
On Monday, we told you about the man who robbed a Magistrate's Court Clerk of over $7,000 dollars in cash. Well tonight, 31 year-old Trenton Webster is at prison tonight after he was taken to Magistrate's Court for it. As we reported, the First Class Clerk reported to police that on Friday at around 4:05 p.m., she was accompanied by a special constable who was providing security while she made a deposit. On Regent Street, a dark skinned man who was armed with a rusty handgun knocked out the unarmed officer with the weapon, and then pointed it at the clerk. Fearing for her life, the clerk handed over the black plastic bag which contained a Belize Bank Night Deposit bag. Inside that bag was $7,634.90 in Belize currency, belonging to the Government of Belize. On New Year's Day, police detained Webster in connection with the robbery, and in the process they shot him in the left foot to subdue him. While he was getting medical attention, he escaped from police, but he was detained yesterday near the Bayview Hotel.

Lamb Will Get Eight Charges
Clarence Lamb is still in the hospital tonight after he was shot by a BTB Security Guard on Wednesday evening. The 22 year old has a long list of charges waiting for him at court when he gets out of the hospital. The Wagner's Lane resident will face one count of robbery and (7) counts of Aggravated Assault. This is for allegedly pulling a gun at the BTB Cashier and other employees when he and another man pulled off a robbery. They escaped with $1,732.00 dollars in two cash pans - but all of it was recovered by police.

Michelle Swasey's Troubles With Burying Her Son
On New Year's Eve, Michelle Swasey gave a sad, moving interview. She was talking about her son James Staine who killed himself after shooting his common law wife Keena Williams in front of their child. She's burying him tomorrow - but today her worries multiplied as she tried to make burial arrangements for her son. She wants to bury him in the same vault as his father, Leslie Staine who died 16 years ago. She made arrangements with undertaker, David Coye - but as of January first, many of the services he provides are now left to the City Council. She told us about all the confusion the sudden change has caused:.. Michelle Swasey, mother of James Staine Sr. "I went to City council this morning. Before I went and pay $25 for research because the grave that my son is going in his father was buried there for 16 years. Now I went to City Council this morning and they charged me $150, I have the receipt right here. They didn't tell me that I have to pay whatever and they will do it, they didn't tell me anything. Now I got a call from Mr. Coye because he has started the process because my son will be buried tomorrow - now they stop them. I don't know what they stop them for. I am waiting for Mr. Coye to come to find out what is going on."

Mayor Defends Cemetery Charges
But the Mayor of Belize City says it is law and a necessary one. Mayor Bradley today told us that the council isn't trying to put undertakers out of business - they're simply trying to ensure quality control at the cemetery:.. Mayor Darrell Bradley "This should not offset in any significant way the undertaking business. I read the headlines in terms of the Amandala and certain concerns which were raised which are things that we do look at because we are mindful of the economic conditions, we are mindful that people need to make a living. But the undertaking business involves a wide gamut of services and what we are saying is that we will do the construction of the tombs. The cemetery comes under our jurisdiction and the maintenance of tombs is always our responsibility and what we have notice over several years is that the tombs themselves they are not built to standards and so when a tomb is constructed if it's not built to standards within a year, two year or five years period the City Council has to go in there for public health reasons and we have to reconstruct the tombs. What we are saying is that we have people who worked at the City Council cemetery; we have 8 people who worked currently at Lord Ridge and a lot of them currently they build the tombs themselves because the undertakers would subcontract the work out to them."

New Year, But Mayor Still Can't Open Highway
And while the Mayor says City Hall isn't trying to make money on the Cemetery - the businesses along the first mile of the Northern Highway say they are losing money because the Council has not completed concrete paving the first one hundred yards of the highway in time. Today the Mayor said they are waiting for the cement to cure properly:.. Mayor Darrell Bradley "Our people are just waiting for the half of the road that has been completed to be cured and then they will open that section of the Northern Highway to traffic and they are going to start work on the other section. Freetown Road is supposed to be finish by next week Friday and then they will do the roundabout and the whole project will be completed. I am expecting that the entire thing will be completed in another two weeks. The Freetown Road/Northern Highway project is something which will be a very good drive for residents of Belize City. It's 1.3 miles of road at a cost of about $630,000.00. I indicated earlier that part of it includes re-structuring the traffic flow on the Northern Highway; we are going to remove the cross walks and we are going to force people to actually use the overpass because we put a barricade there.

City Needs Revenue From Garbage Tax, Having Trouble Implementing Collection System
And the City Council is the one waiting on BWSL to conclude negotiation so that the utility can attach the residential garbage tax to the water bills of city residents. Sounds like a good plan on paper, but the devil is in the details - and while working those out, the mayor says negotiations have stalled. It's bad news for City Hall because its main sources of revenue, the head tax and the government subvention now go to the Central Bank to service the municipal bond. It needs the revenue from the garbage tax as revenue replacement, but setting up collection may be difficult. The mayor discussed it today:.. Mayor Darrell Bradley "We are still not finalized with BWSL. I had expected that we would have been much advance in terms of our discussions with putting that in place. It's been stalled and this is one of those things that you had ask me about in terms of wanting to push aggressively ahead but it doesn't work as planned. We wanted to ensure that we were agreed before the close of the year, we are beyond the year because these bills have to go out this month in terms of our projection. We have to start collecting this fee by latest February and that is our time table."

Battlefield Or Bust!
We've featured Steven Okeke in numerous newscasts in the past where he emerged as a social activist, but tonight, he wears the hat of a patriotic Belizean. He's trying to get a statue of the Belizean Hero, Phillip Goldson erected in the Battlefield park, but according to him it's been a 12-year fight to get it done. Well, he's finally gotten permission from the Belize City Council to use an area in the park for it, but he needs finances to build the base for it. He called us out to the location to show us where it will be, and also made a public plea for financial help: Steven Okeke "This would be a historical location because it would be the point from which we develop the base for the Phillip Goldson monument. In fact I want to thank the city government; the Mayor especially Mr. Phillip Willoughby who helped me to push this thing and Mr. Kevin Singh. We came out here yesterday to mark a spot where the monument would be erected.

PUP Deputies Oppose Hyde Return
Is there a future for Cordel Hyde in the PUP? According to an article in today;s reporter two Deputy Leaders Mike Espat and Julius Espat are flatly opposed to it. But, the article quotes the party chairman as saying that that quote, "Cordel Hyde never left the PUP. And it quotes former leader Said Musa as saying that the matter will have to be sorted out by the Party one way or another. Current leader Francis Fonseca said he would not comment until he had hear directly from Hyde.

Shamed By FACEBOOK Fight
Our next story is an unusual one. First off, it's not for kids - so if they're in the room, you'll want to change the channel or ask them to take a TV break. The story involves mature content because it's about a physical fight - an all out war between two women. Now, this is not the stuff that usually makes news - but what happens when someone captures that fight on cell phone camera and then posts it on the web for the whole world to see? Well, that's another level - and when that fight involves partial nudity�well you can imagine the embarrassment of the combatants! And what's worse is that the video has gone viral and they have no power to take it off the internet. It's like your most embarrassing moment being immortalized forever on eternal loop - and you're powerless to do anything about it. What happens to someone in the glare of such sudden exposure and notoriety? How do they explain it to their family? That's what Monica Bodden tried to find out yesterday when she tracked down one of the combatants. She appeared off camera and we have also blurred the video:

Channel 5

The dead will sleep; if undertakers and City hall agree
The City Council's decision to assume some burial services effective January first is not resting well with undertakers or families who need to bury their loved ones. The new regulation by the City Council was put to a test today when Coye Funeral Services, the biggest undertaker in the City, went to the Lord Ridge [...]

Marco Vidal's heavy portfolios of GSU and Special Branch
A new commissioner of police has been named; he is former CEO for National Security Allen Wylie. It is critical time for the police with crime and street violence proving to be a major challenge and the gangs running amok now that the gang truce program has ended and funding has declined. The appointment of [...]

Brothers charged for murder
This afternoon, two brothers were arraigned before Chief Magistrate Ann Marie Smith for the New Year's Day Murder and Attempted Murders in Belize City. Twenty-three year old Akeem Humes was charged for the murder of forty-five year old Orlando Williams, who was violently gunned down on East Canal. Akeem, a reputed associate of the George [...]

Shot 4 times and survives
There was a shooting during the heavy rains on Thursday night. It happened on Lovely Lane off Victoria Street and could have ended fatally for the victim had he not hidden behind a rack of water bottles. Paul Alvarez braved the downpour to purchase Boledo when he came under attack; at least four bullets found [...]

Will there be justice for slain toddler?
It is four months since baby Kaylee Burgess was murdered; her body was found in a bucket in the yard of her grandmother's house in Ladyville on September fifth. It was a tumultuous time because her mother and father were feuding and the baby's murder was staged as a drowning. Kaylee was in the care [...]

Mom of accused says her son chopped in self-defense
Self defense; that is what the mother of twenty-nine year old Doran Moody claims led him to chop forty-three year old Mark Davis to the face, left hand and ear. Moody, it is reported, was in an altercation early on New Year's Day with two young men with whom he had an old beef. And [...]

The twists and turns of Mexican national's arms case
The trial of Zurisday Villasenor Mendez was adjourned on Thursday evening in the Corozal Magistrate's Court. He is the Mexican national who was charged after a bust of guns and ammunition at the Las Vegas Casino in Corozal. Two issues were submitted by attorneys Dickie Bradley and Arthur Saldivar. Firstly, they are seeking the recusal [...]

No one injured as bus engine catches fire
A Morales bus drove into problems on one of the city's highways early this morning. When the bus reached Gardenia Village in the Belize District, a fire occurred under the hood. The driver took a fire extinguisher that was located at the entrance of the vehicle, lifted the enclosure for the engine and quelled the [...]

Enrique Martinez and Sons employee disappears amidst theft
It appears that a delivery man for Enrique Martinez and Sons Limited has gone rogue and disappeared with a customer's order as well as items stolen from the company vehicle. According to a warehouse Supervisor, on December nineteenth, Nathan Pratt was sent to deliver several rolls of copper tubing and a disconnect switch; all valued [...]

He robbed the Magistrate Court's cash and returns for 5 charges
Seven thousand, six hundred and thirty-four dollars were stolen from the Belize City Magistrate's Court on December twenty-eighth. The cashier was jacked of the day's deposit when a brazen robber pulled a gun on the unarmed Special Constable that was escorting her to the bank. Today, the gunman believed to have executed the broad daylight [...]

Charged with 'Permitting Himself to be Rescued'?
We reported on Wednesday that Corporal Edward Castillo was charged for Obstruction after he prevented Assistant Superintendent Anthony Rosado from carrying out his duty. On December twenty-sixth, Castillo was one of five occupants in an SUV driven by Lloyd Dyer Senior when it was inspected on Central American Boulevard. Rosado found that the vehicle's insurance [...]

12 years later, a home for Phillip Goldson's bust
Politician, talk show enthusiast, author, teacher, father, and businessman are only some of the words used to describe Stephen Okeke but busy man may be the sum of his many parts. It's possible that some may forget that Okeke first came to fame for his prodigious work as a sculptor not only of wood but [...]

GSU forages for weapons in blocks
The Gang Suppression Unit is keeping a close eye on the George Street Gang. Having found a grenade and ammunition in a church on West Street, on Wednesday morning, GSU officers searched the residence of someone they describe as one of the key leaders of the George Street Gang. Nothing incriminating was found inside the [...]

LOVE FM

Police News
A shooting incident on Thursday night has left one man hospitalized. Twenty year old Paul Alvarez, Junior was injured to the right hand, right armpit and the right side of his back, during an incident around seven forty five last night. According to police, Alvarez was insi...

Teenage Girl Missing
A teenage girl has been reported missing by her father. According to thirty six year old Daniel Aguirre, a resident of the San Martin area of Belmopan, his fifteen year old daughter Beverlin, left home enroute to a local store on Wednesday night and has not returned. Beverl...

University Students Disapproves of Government's Decision to Cut Subsidy
The Student Government of the University of Belize and a group called Nation Builders yesterday called a press conference in Belize City voice their disapproval of Government's termination of subsidizing fees. According to the student government, discontinuation of the gove...

New Police Commissioner Appointed; Reshuffling In Police Department Announced
A new commissioner of Police has been named. Long-serving Deputy Allen Whylie was promoted to the commissioner's post, according to an announcement made late yesterday by the Ministry of National Security. Former commissioner David Henderson moves on to take up the po...

Punta Gorda Police Investigates Fire
A house was partly destroyed by fire in Punta Gorda. Correspondent Paul Mahung has the details. "According to police information the early Thursday morning fire incident happened at about 12:30 am. The Punta Gorda Fire service went to the scene of the fire an...

Brothers Charged For Separate Shooting Incidents
Twenty year old Shakeem Humes appeared in the number four Magistrate's Court on Monday, December 31st, 2012, and was charged with causing public terror in connection with an incident that occurred at BTL Park on December 15. He was released on bail. According to an allegation, at...

Postman and Police Charged Following Escape From Police
Thirty-five year old postman Lloyd Dyer, who was with police corporal Edward Castillo, when there was a run in with Assistant Police Superintendent Anthony Rosado, was charged with using a motor vehicle not covered by third party insurance and permitting himself to be rescued when he a...

Escaped Robber Recaptured
Trenton Webster, the person who the police believe robbed the deposit money for the magistrate court, was charged with robbery when he appeared today in the number one Magistrate's Court. Webster was also charged with 2 counts of aggravated assault, 1 count of harm and 1 co...

PlusTV

2012; PlusNews Year in review
A comprehensive look back at 2012; a year that saw a general and Municipal election held simultaneously, the Renego...

Man shot in Belize City Thursday night
A man was shot in Belize city last night. Just before 8 o' clock last night, Police visited the K.H.M.H. where they...

Akeem Humes charged for murder of Orlando William
21 Year old Akeem Humes, an affiliate of George Street was today arraigned in Court and charged for New Year's Eve ...

Trenton Webster in court for robbery
A man who was shot by police while trying to flee, was arraigned in court this morning. 31 year old Trenton Webster...

Dakers Stationary and Books broken into in Belmopan
A brazen burglary took place shortly before midnight last night in the City of Belmopan. The incident took place at...

Group calls for no more bars in Belmopan
Yesterday we told you about the 15yr old minor who ran away from a children's home and was later found working at T...

Michael Avilez sentenced to 3 years in jail for drug trafficking
52 yr old Michael Avilez will spend 3 years in jail for drug trafficking. On August 14, of last year, Police conduc...

Clarence Lamb charged for robbery of BTB
Belize City Police have formally arrested and charged 22yr old Clarence Lamb, of Belize City with Robbery and (7) c...

Construction of tombstones in Belize City will be sole responsibility of Cemetery Department
Media houses have reported on plans by the Belize City Council to takeover activities at Belize City's major public...

UB students protest registration fee increase
Today, Friday, is registration day for students attending the University of Belize (UB)'s campuses across Belize. B...

15 year-old missing from San Martin Area, Belmopan
36yr old Daniel Aguirre, Taxi Driver of San Martin Area, Belmopan, reported to Belmopan Police that at 8:00pm on We...

Police make more drug discoveries
Police made some more drug discoveries. At 4:00am yesterday morning, Orange Walk Police conducted a search at the r...