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

The San Pedro Sun

No Alcohol to be sold on Good Friday!
The San Pedro Police Department is reiterating that there should be no alcohol sold on Good Friday. According to the Intoxicating Liquor Licensing Act Chapter 150 of the Laws of Belize section 27 states that: " 1. (a) all licensed premises in which liquor is sold under a publican's general license shall be closed - on Christmas Day and Good Friday; 2. (a) All licensed premises in which liquor is sold under a malt liquor and cider license shall be closed - on Christmas Day and Good Friday 3. Any person who during the times at which any licensed premises are required by this section to be closed (a) sells or exposes for sale in such premises any liquor; or (b) opens or keeps open such premises for the sale of liquor; or (c) allows any liquor, although purchased before the hours of closing, to be consumed on such premises, is guilty of an offence". The San Pedro Town Council (SPTC) however, has advised establishments that they are allowed to sell alcohol after 9PM on Friday. When asked if the SPTC have asked for special provisions regarding the law, ASP Robinson said, "They want me to break the law and that will not happen."

SPHS are the Northern Regional Track and Field Champions
San Pedro High School (SPHS) brought to the island the Northern Regional Championship in Track and Field on Friday, March 30th. This is the second time this for year that high school athletes have made history; having won the National Male Softball Competition earlier in March. The team managed to capture a total of 76 medals placing them at the top of the board by the time the Track and Field Tournament was over. For the SPHS Principal Emil Vasquez, the win is a historical event for the school. "We have never won a championship in Track and Field. Last year we came in second and this year we got the championship; it is history in the making at San Pedro High School." The medalists who captured first and second places in the various disciplines will join other athletes from three other high schools from the northern zone to compete at the National Track and Field final as one zone. According to Vasquez, going to nationals means even more training. "We believe that when we go to the nationals we should do fairly well," said Vasquez. Having little to no space to practice track and field at the SPHS, Vasquez said that it is certainly a challenge which needs to be address. He added that having won so many medals despite the limited space is what makes the SPHS even more proud of their victory. SPHS garnered15 points more than Corozal Community College who won the zone championship in 2011, a school that is considered the powerhouse in northern zone.

Popular Salvadoran Musical Group "Sinkronia" Arrives in San Pedro
Salvadoran tropical musical group Sinkronia arrived in San Pedro yesterday evening, April 5th. The musical group of ten will be performing at Wet Willy's this Easter weekend on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Shortly after arriving on the island, the group had the opportunity to meet with local islanders as well as sample some of the local food. In an exclusive interview with The San Pedro Sun, group leader La Lupita (Lupita Mejia) explained that they are excited and ready to entertain the islanders and tourists alike. "We are very happy and excited and we are ready to sing and dance with the people of San Pedro. We will be performing music such as salsa, meringue and the cumbia which is something that defines the region and I hope that it is well received by our audience." La Lupita explained that to blend into the Belizean musical flavor, they will also be performing a bit of punta music.

SP Police Enforce Alcohol Law on Good Friday
ASP Robinson told The San Pedro Sun that she duly gave warning to the business community about the laws. "Absolutely no one is above the law. I am here to enforce the law and as such that is what we are doing. They [the business owners] are well aware of the law and it clearly states that no holder of a liquor license will be open for business on Good Friday. What is not clear about that law?" said a determined ASP Robinson. While the drastic enforcement of the law did not sit well with business owners, members of the public stopped and congratulated ASP Robinson as she was out enforcing it. The team of officers ensured that the store representatives/owners were informed of their offence and were also informed of the course of action that would be taken. As such the stores were promptly closed in the presence of the officers.

Ambergris Today

Teen Talk - Easter Break in Belize
The Easter weekend is a "real" Belizean holiday for any number of reasons, not the least of which is the spectacular weather, tips to interesting places for the holidays, and the myriad colors of pink, red, orange, lilac and yellow as the countryside blooms. With over 75% of the Belizean population being Christians, the origin of the four-day holiday weekend has its roots in Christianity. Each day is referred to separately by its own title - Good Friday, Holy Saturday, Easter Sunday, and Easter Monday - each with its own traditions and events. The Easter weekend is a favorite for visiting Belizean families from abroad as local families are off from work or out of school and can spend time together. This week I decided to ask my fellow teens "What do you plan to do for this Easter vacation?"

CTV3

How To Make Hot Cross Bun
But Easter is not only about last minute shopping and Christian practices; it's also about eating hot cross bun which is basically the main menu for Good Friday. But not many of us know how to make hot cross bun, and if we try, it just does not come out right. In one kitchen here in Orange Walk hot cross bun is the specialty. So, for those who are eager to learn how to make the Good Friday bun we invite you to join us as we air a story we ran last year featuring Miss Betty Lopez and her hot cross bun.

Where To Go For Easter? One Option Is Rio Adventures
While some Belizeans will be travelling to Playa Del Carmen or Cancun to celebrate Easter Sunday, there are those who will relay on the jewel to have a good time. Here in Orange Walk some residents will travel to Honey Camp and relax by the lagoon. But if for some reason or the other you want to stay within town limits then we suggest that on Easter Sunday you visit Rio Adventures located along the river side in the Louisiana Area. For this Easter Sunday Julian Chell Sr. has coordinated a day full of fun and excitement. Today he told us more about the activity. Julian Chell Sr., Coordinator "We are going to have swimming race and from Banquitas we are going to have a dory race, anybody who wants to participate it will a hundred dollars for the first price, we will having fishing tournament, whosever goes fishing in the morning and depends of the quantity of fish gets fifty dollars first price, we are going to have a banana contest too for ladies and for kids, we are going to have what you call the finding of sweets or not the eggs but sweets for the kids so everybody could enjoy the day it will be a family affair.

Minister Of Foreign Affairs Accepts Blame For Hyde's Appointment
On Tuesday Cabinet announced the appointments of seven Belizeans for Diplomatic posts. Among the seven was former Senior Deputy Leader for the People's United Party Cordel Hyde who was appointed as Consul General to New York. On the same day that the release was sent out Bill Lindo informed media houses that Hyde, who is presently in New York where his son is being treated for cancer, was offered no appointment nor was he willing to accept any. So was it a simple typographical error? Well according to the Minister of Foreign Affairs Sedi Elrington, he is to blame. As Belize's Minister of Foreign Affairs, it is a part of my responsibility to identify suitably qualified persons immediately below the rank of C.E.O.'s and Ambassadors for recruitment into the ministry. Persons identify for recruitment are those invariably those who I have good reason to believe are interested in the posting. Over the last four years, the practice has been for all ministers to submit to Cabinet the names for all potential recruits for senior posting in the government service for its approval. In conformity with that practice, I duly submitted the name of Cordel Hyde to the Cabinet some time ago for the senior post of Counsel General in New York. However, I had not, prior to doing so, communicated personally to Mr. Hyde my intention of submitting his name to the Cabinet for the post. Neither did I inform him prior to the issuance of Tuesday's Cabinet press release that Cabinet had agreed earlier that day to his appointment as Counsel General in New York. Cabinet only agreed yesterday afternoon maybe about twelve-one. In the circumstances, I apologize to the prime minister, my Cabinet colleagues and especially to Mr. Hyde and his family for any and all embarrassment and inconvenience caused to them by my actions."

Easter Message From The Catholic Church
Lent is the Christian season of preparation before Easter. Ash Wednesday marks the first day, or the start of the season of Lent which begins 40 days prior to Easter. It is a time when many Christians prepare for Easter by observing a period of fasting, repentance, moderation and spiritual discipline. The purpose is to set aside time for reflection on Jesus Christ, his suffering and resurrection so as to prepare ourselves to die spiritually with Christ on Good Friday, the day of his Crucifixion, so that we can rise again with him in new life on Easter Sunday.

Leader Of The Opposition Denies Bribery Allegations
Yesterday Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin granted leave for an election petition filed against the Leader of the Opposition and Freetown Area Representative Francis Fonseca by Lee Mark Chang. Chief Justice Benjamin handed down his ruling after Chang's attorney Michael Young, read affidavits from seven individuals who said they accepted bribes from one Albert Vaughn to vote for Fonseca in the Freetown Division. Of note is that none of the sworn statements accuse Fonseca of being involved in erroneous acts. In his defense Fonseca's attorney Said Musa, made mention that at least one of the affidavits was inconsistent. After hearing arguments from both sides Chief Justice Kenneth granted leave for the complainant to bring the election petition against Francis Fonseca.

42nd BNTU Convention To Be Held In Orange Walk
"Demanding Decent Working and Learning Conditions For All" is the new theme for this year's 42nd annual Belize National Teachers Union Convention scheduled to take place here in Orange Walk on the 11th and 12th of April. Every year the convention takes place at a different location and this year BNTU Orange Walk is proud to be hosting the event which will emphasize on current issues affecting teachers countrywide. Otilio Munoz, President of BNTU Orange Walk Branch "The purpose of the convention is basically, the convention is the highest level of authority in our organization, our constitution, and this is the opportunity where teachers can come out and voice out there opinions concerning what are the things that they are encountering, they are facing in the classroom, their working condition and all these things they can voice it out that day and then the national president and the whole national executive is given the task that whenever they negotiate with the government of Belize then they would present it and this is what the teachers of this country are demanding to see happens in our classrooms or in our profession. We want to send the message to be clear and what is our needs, what we are facing everyday in our Belizean classroom, what we want to see different and we want to also talk about the union business which is basically our finances where we stand, do recommendations for the running of our business, the transactions and things like that so that is the main purpose of this convention."

LOVE TV

Valley of Peace youth claims police brutality
A young man from Valley of Peace says he is in pain and incapacitated by wounds inflicted by a policeman. The man, Ian Tun, told Love News that last Saturday night he was at a party when he witnessed another man about to start trouble. That was when he decided to intervene, he said, but a policeman who was outside the location turned on him and administered a beating that still has him on the recovery list. We got a picture of Tun and his version of the events via telephone today. Tun is hoping that the Belmopan police will investigate the incident, especially since he says he can produce witnesses of the brutality.

Series of robberies reported in Belize City
A series of armed robberies, the latest of which happened this morning, has been reported in Belize City in the last twenty four hours. The first happened around eight forty last night. Twenty seven year old Shian Bradley tells police that she was inside her car on Fairweather Street last night waiting for a relative to at a store when she was held up. Bradley says that a dark skin man, armed with a handgun and riding on a bicycle approached and robbed her of a gold chain and Black Berry phone, totaling three thousand seven hundred dollars. The second incident happened forty five minutes later. Thirty nine year old Peter Morgan reported to police that he was in his yard on King Street around nine fifteen last night when he was held up and robbed. Morgan says that he was packing some clothes and shoes when two dark skin men armed with firearms robbed him of two bags containing tennis shoes and clothing. The total value of the stolen merchandise is put at three thousand, nine hundred dollars. In both cases, the robbers made good their escape, and police say they are investigating.

City business held up, customer robbed
The latest robbery occurred just this morning on Cemetery Road in Belize City. And while it might have just happened, police already have one detained and are looking for another.

Payroll jacked from Belize Recycling Company
A short time before the Johnson murder on Custard Apple Street, there was another armed hold up reported. This time is was the Belize Recycling Company that was the target. The mid-afternoon incident happened at the city's garbage dumpsite on the Western Highway. It has left a businesswoman hospitalized and over two dozen workers were unable to receive their pay because the company's payroll was jacked. Love News spoke with one of the affected employees who, fearing for her own safety, chose not to speak with us on camera. Here is her account of what took place. Police are investigating both incidents and up to news time were no reports of any suspects being detained.

Blogs

Hol Chan Marine Museum
One of the most recommended tours to do on Ambergris Caye is a boat trip to Hol Chan Marine Reserve. We really do have world class scuba diving and snorkeling here in Belize and even enjoyed some recent international and local press: Hol Chan Marine Reserve Belize Among Top Ten Snorkeling Spots In The World by the National. Belize named second best snorkeling spot in the world by San Pedro Sun. What people forget to mention is a visit to Hol Chan Marine Museum. I recommended it in my tacogirl Top Ten 10 random things to do in San Pedro write up and I always tell people to stop and support Hol Chan by taking a trip to the marine museum in downtown San Pedro. In addition to what you see in the pictures below they have nice glass cases on the wall with all the different shells found in Belize.

We Came SO CLOSE to Winning Trivia at Pedro's Inn
Every Thursday night, there is trivia tournament at either Pedro's Inn or Roadkill Bar. Last night, we studied up and headed to Pedro's to take the entire pot. We were totally in it to win it. And our team lost by 1/2 of a stinking point. Ugh. I'm still not over it. Here is Pedro's full schedule for the holiday weekend. Trivia starts at about 7:30pm, it is $5bzd for each player's entry fee and there are 5 rounds of 10 questions with a pictorial bonus round. Cindy is the no-nonsense quiz mistress. Her word is law on Thursday nights. Even loud mouthed Pedro cannot sway her. Peter (the owner) was nice enough to offer a free drink. Of course we were allowed only one choice: jager shots. Nice? Not really. He was trying to throw us off our game. I saw the fear in his eyes. The quiver in his lip. After a very heated battle, the team called the "Roadkillers", a team of five, came in first and won the $160 pot. BY HALF A POINT!

Mr. Pop's Plantation
During a recent trip to Belize, I visited the cacao plantation of Eladio Pop and observed the quiet passion, humility, and expertise of one of the District's most well-known organic farmers. We were returning from our ecolodge in Belize's tropical heartland to the Belize City municipal airport. There, we would take a short flight to the southern state of Toledo. On the way, our driver asked our permission to pick up a woman waiting at a lonesome bus stop in the countryside. He knew her as the wife of a farmer and she was taking a basket of squash to market. We exchanged small talk and when she left the van, she turned to me and said, "Little Belize has a lot of richness but nobody pays no mind." I was still thinking of those words when we landed in Punta Gorda, just a little more than an hour later. Yes Belize is little. But I'm wondering if being ignored by the world is not a blessing in a way. With the exception of controversial coastal developments, and admittedly recent concerns over plans for offshore oil exploration, Belize seems comparatively untouched, and especially here in the south. The view from our fourteen-seat Cessna aircraft was uninterrupted green and snaking rivers.

Corozo aka Cohune Palm - Multi-Purpose Maya Tree
This is a great article on Cohune Palms from Lower Dover Lodge. Some interesting facts. "Many believe the Maya had many practical uses for the tree (oil, roofing material, and even salt). Local guides go a step further and describe Maya shamans using the palms as proof of their spirit connections. When the wind would blow through the palms located around their settlement, shamans would say�'I told you the Gods were listening!' 'Heart of Palm' or 'Palmito' is a rare but well known local delicacy that is delicious in salads and commonly enjoyed over the Easter holiday. Unfortunately, to obtain the palm heart, the tree must be cut down, which is why they are so rare and usually carry a high cost. The nut is a favorite food of the gibnut, and is also eaten by people, despite the difficulty in cracking the shell. Cohune has a high oil content, yet it requires extensive extraction processing, so it's not very economically viable for biofuels. Many have tried to mechanize the process, but the Maya version of cracking the outer shell on stones, mashing the nuts by hand tool, and boiling the oil out in water remains the most effective way of extraction."

Competitions around Cayo
There are quite a few competitions going on right now. Belmopan City Online has their Mother's Day comp: https://www.facebook.com/BelmopanCityOnline Cindy Lu Photography and Vanessa Awe Makeup have one: https://www.facebook.com/belizemakeupartistry UB has their Earth Day Creative Arts competition too. And there's the Children's Environmental Poster competition. Cayo Event Calendar: http://on.fb.me/H0XXRf

Barefoot Skinny at Lucky 5 Sports Bar & Grill
Tonight and tomorrow night, Barefoot Skinny will be performing at Lucky 5 Sports Bar. Good Friday brings good live music. See you there!

PHOTOS: Rebecca Stirm's Dress of Leaves
Belmopan's Rebecca Stirm, one of Belize's up and coming fashion designers, has released some pictures of her dress of leaves. That's talent!

Bread Pudding
Bread pudding is one of my all time favorite recipes. This will be the 1st of 3 videos that I will put up for bread pudding. This sweet confection is simple to make yet elegant to taste. This recipe has a soft custard on the bottom, while the bread forms a crunchy crust.

Caye Caulker Prepares for Easter
Easter, in the Belizean calendar, is that where one and all go on vacation - Businesses close in the cities and this leaves four days for everybody to relax and play. So this is our time to be centre of attention, a moment where Caye Caulker's population will triple in the next few hours and the entertainment has been laid on, Caye Caulker style!!! Easter Temptation is being billed as the event not to mis (and I am inclined to believe them!!). The Palapa Garden (at the Centre of town, opposite Da Real Macaw) will be the focus of the weekend bringing Belize's Artist of the Year Nello Player and Federation 501 to entertain the crowds on Saturday night, dancing under the full moon!! On Sunday day there will be the Tour Guide's Association Sailing Regatta with both small and large boats and even windsurfs I believe. In the afternoon we are all looking forward to the games .. there are promised to be large cash prizes for Raggamuffin's Greasy Pole competition and many many more � fun for everybody!! And finally on Sunday night, the party will continue to 1am! And this is not all .. the Split too will be having their own very impressive Easter bash. They have brought the live bands Electosounds (from Orange Walk) and also a band from Mexico - as well as porter toilets for our convenience later in the evening!! Once again, with a back drop of the moon plus the ocean view, revelers will be able to drink and dance until they drop!!! So hurry, hurry, hurry - if your ticket is not already booked then you may miss out!!


Last edited by Marty; 11/17/12 10:13 AM.