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WEEKLY WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR BELIZE
Valid: Sunday, June 3 until Monday, June 11, 2012
Moist and unstable conditions associated with low pressures over Central America and the western Caribbean, a low-level surge of strong breeze across the central and western Caribbean in the ESE’ly trade winds, and divergence of the air in the upper levels, will results in thundery and showery weather persisting over Belize and adjacent areas during the next 10 days of June.
The 24-hour GFS model forecast chart for 10 meter winds, 24-hour accumulated rainfall and the pressure patterns, valid for 6:00 am Sunday, June 3, 2012, shows low pressures centers strung across the Pacific coast of Central America, with fresh E to ESE winds of 15 to 20 knots over the western Caribbean, and rainfall concentrated mostly over and offshore the Stann Creek, Belize and Corozal Districts on Saturday through Sunday morning. A trough of low pressure is also projected to remain over the extreme NW Caribbean and Yucatan through Monday.
The GFS model 132-hr projected vorticity pattern at 5,000 feet valid for Thursday evening, June 7, 2012, shows a trough of low pressure extending across the eastern Gulf of Mexico to coastal waters of Belize and the surge of strong low-level winds in the central and western Caribbean. This surge will enhance the convective activity generated by the low pressure trough in the NW Caribbean on Friday through most of the upcoming weekend.
The GFS model 24-hour rainfall totals ending at 6:00 am on Thursday, June 7, 2012 depicts rainfall totals in the range of 0.25-0.50 of-an-inch for Wednesday and Wednesday night in the range of 0.25-0.50 of-an-inch, mostly over areas north of the Toledo District. Rainfall will be higher in the elevated areas of the Stann Creek and Cayo Districts, and favorable for quick runoff in some localities of these districts.
Tropical Cyclone Outlook:
The models are not forecasting any tropical cyclone formation over the Caribbean during the next five days.
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Last night's TV news on Channel 7 and Channel 5
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The San Pedro Sun
Shandoy Jeffords found guilty of manslaughter; Security guard Antonio Almandarez killed in 2005
On Thursday May 31st the case regarding the killing of 50 year old Antonio Almandarez ended with a witness, now suspect found guilty of manslaughter.
Alamandarez who was a security guard at Fido’s Courtyard located in the downtown area of San Pedro Town, was beaten to death on the morning of July 25, 2005 during a burglary. Police had originally charged Luis Lalin, Bernard Elvis “Dragon” Williams and Austin Mungia with the crime but in 2007 all three men were eventually freed of charges after the main witness, Shandoy Jeffords, did not testify in court.
Later, in 2008 the Director of Public Prosecution ordered the arrest of witness Jeffords who was then charged for manslaughter and burglary. During the case Prosecutor Shamilla Williams depended on a ‘caution statement’ given by Jeffords, which was deemed admissible by Judge Adolph Lucas following a voir dire. Jefford detailed in his statement that he and a friend known as ‘Dragon’ waited on the beach for Fido’s to close then moved in on Almendarez.
Misc Belizean Sources
Kindest Kid in San Pedro Award 2012 – Thank you and congratulations!
On the 24th of May 2012, Minister of Culture & Tourism, Hon. Manuel Heredia, presented prizes to three children, who had won awards for kindness in San Pedro. The Grand Prize winner was Mariano Calderon (The Island Academy), Faith Azueta (R.C. School) was the 1st Runner up and Naomi King (The Island Academy) won the Be Kind Belize Choice Award.
The Kindest Kid in San Pedro Award was started by Be Kind Belize with the belief that children who do good things in our community and who are kind deserve acknowledgement. By doing this, it is hoped that discussions about kindness and generosity of spirit will be started in schools, encouraging children to look up to positive role models, such as the Kindest Kid Award winners.
The children were nominated by their schools as ‘kindness ambassadors’. Teachers, principals and students were involved in the nomination process. Many thanks to San Pedro High School students, and most of all High School Counsellor, Gustavo Ramirez, for their assistance in the elimination process and support throughout.
Meluchi's: New Website, Menu, and Mini Concert
Meluchi's new website is live! Great job, Byron Sierra and Devaughn Watters. The Graveyard Lounge is the best nightclub in Cayo. Tonight, they're having a family night mini concert with West Side Talent. They also have an updated menu. Facebook Page
Shabla Excels at Party Planning
Shabla Event Planning and Catering really knows how to do a Sweet 16 party. Check out some of those pictures. Hot pink, black, and zebra print were the combination for this party. Shalue does way more than just cook great food.
Spring Equinox Overnight at Caracol Video
Check out this magical video that gives a really good idea of some of the activities they did at the Caracol Overnight camping trip for the Spring Equinox. The sunrise at the end is spectacular! You can see Dr. Jaime Awe explaining the Maya, and you get to see the night fire ceremony too.
The next Caracol Overnight is on June 20th. Contact the Institute of Archaeology for more information at 822-2106 or email them at [email protected].
CTV3
Family Feud Leaves Two Persons Injured
A bitter feud over the weekend between two families from the Corozal District left two persons injured. When police arrived at the Corozal Community Hospital at around 10:30 on Sunday morning they observed 32 year old Adam Williams with what appeared to be a gunshot wound to the left knee. Initial investigations reveal that Williams and 42 year old Vincent Charley were involved in an altercation earlier that day. As a result both men ended up wounded. While Charley shot Williams on the left knee, Williams inflicted two chop wounds Charley’s head. Luckily both men are alive tonight even though one of them has been detained by police and the other is recuperating from his injuries at the KHMH. So what caused the confrontation? Well it’s a bit complicated since both families have their own version of what transpired on Saturday yesterday morning on 2nd Street North Corozal. Here is what they had to say.
Hipolito Novelo Reporting
Tonight 32 year old Adam Williams is at the KHMH recovering from a gunshot wound to his left knee while 42 year old Vincent Charley is locked up at the Corozal Police Station suffering from two chop wounds to his head. Both men sustained their injuries during an altercation on Sunday at around 4:00pm.
The reason behind the argument is really difficult to decipher since both families have their own version of what took place.
Driver Tow-head Truck Lucky To Be Alive
The driver of a towhead truck is lucky to be alive tonight after the vehicle he was traveling in somehow ended up in a man made pond located on the left hand side of the Northern Highway near the entrance of San Jose Village in the Orange Walk District. When CTV3 News arrived at the scene around 9:00 yesterday morning this is what we encountered. The towhead was semi-submerged in the pond while the empty 40 foot container attached to it remained in mid air. Luckily the driver of the towhead, only identified as a man from the Village of Buena Vista, managed to escape unhurt. When we spoke to residents of the area we were informed that around 4:00 in the morning they heard a loud bang and when they came outside to check what had occurred they saw the driver of the towhead coming out of the passenger side. Unconfirmed reports are that the towhead belongs to one Omar Gutierrez also from the Village of Buena Vista. CTV3 News understands that the driver of the towhead was traveling from Orange Walk Town to Buena Vista when he lost control of the vehicle and ended up in the pond. According to witnesses the driver was under the influence of alcohol. We understand that the towhead was not pulled out of the pond until 1:30 in the afternoon.
OWTHS Business Expo Turns Out to Be A Huge Success
Braking off from the usual tradition of having business expositions inside school grounds, over the weekend the Orange Walk Technical High School decided to take their annual expo to new heights. The business expo kicked off from 8:00 o’clock in the morning and ended at around 5:00 o’clock in the evening. Here is how it went
Hipolito Novelo Reporting
On Sunday the rain poured down and the grounds at the Orange Walk People’s Stadium became mucky but despite of all of this, the Orange Walk Technical High School Business Exposition went well, according to Teacher, Juanita Polanco.
Juanita Polanco, Teacher OWTHC
“It’s been really great. Despite the rain this morning, people have been coming. There are great deals. Everybody is enjoying this. It is really going well. The visitors, the come and they all go happy because I see a lot of people going with a lot of bags so I think they are enjoying it. The booths of both phone companies, Telemedia and SMART, are attracting the most of the visitors. Also Circle Rice because a lot of rice have been passing here. Everything is going great.”
But it was not all business at the expo also saw the participation of various enjoyable games.
Student Of Trial Farm Gov School Is Orange Walks Poster Youth
The National Institute of Culture and History in collaboration with the Institute of Creative Arts is once again shinning the spotlight on talented Belizean youths in the annual National Festival of Arts. The grand festival is an event that grasps the culture and artistic expressions portrayed by Belizeans who showcase their talents and display their artist work during the annual Festival of Arts Parade. One of the main highlights of the event is the District Poster Youth that enables one talented young mind from each district to represent their home town at the festival of arts. Now, if you’re wondering who will be representing Orange Walk then the answer is 13 year old student from Trial Farm Government School David Alvarez who more than filled the criteria to be Orange Walk’s Poster Youth.
Yvette Torres, Coordinator BHOC
“What happened is that this year we were closer to the ministry of education here in Orange Walk and with their efforts we managed to get three different poster youth candidates which these candidates their submissions was sent to Belize City and a panel were the ones who choose. The criteria was that they had to be between the ages of 3 and 29 and they had to live in their district for five years and they are willing and active in the expressive arts and that participated in different activities that had to do with the performing arts.”
ASR Says There Will Be No Retrenchment Of BSI Employees
When we left you on Friday night the Executive of the Belize Workers Union demanded that BSI Management provide workers with a copy of the proposal made by American Sugar Refinery for the purchasing of Belize Sugar Industries Limited. The aim of the Executive was to ensure that the payment of dividends owed to BSI employees and security of employment was outlined in the proposal.
In letter sent to the Belize Worker’s Union today, by BSI Management, all employees are informed that 50% of the outstanding dividends will be paid two weeks after the closing of the transaction with ASR; 30% of the outstanding dividends will be paid one year after closing and the remaining payment of 20% will be paid two years after closing. In the letter, sent to President of BWU Ian Leiva, BSI’s CEO, Joey Montalvo assures employees that any dividends declared against 2012 profits will be paid in full in 2013.
The letter also specifies that 100% of the outstanding dividends due to hourly paid retirees will be paid in full two weeks after closing of the transaction with ASR. Montalvo also confirms that the payment of the 1% additional bonus which would become due against profits above $6 million in 2012 will be honored.
Caye Caulker Chronicles
Fresh Fire-Hearth Roasted Cashews For Sale…
This gentleman walks down the streets of Caye Caulker with his stash of bagged, fresh roasted cashew nuts. Cashew fruit is grown locally on mainland Belize. It is fresh roasted locally over a wood fire, bagged, and brought to you wherever you are. Support a local farmer and a local entrepreneur and buy some authentic Belizean cashews. You will not be disappointed. Small bags are BZ$ 10 (US$ 5) and large bags are BZ$ 20 (US$ 10).
Belizean Flava Ice Cream, Smoothies, & Snack Bar
Restaurant Review
2012 San Pedro Lobsterfest Schedule
The San Pedro Business Association [SPBA] has released the schedule of events for the 2012 San Pedro Lobster Festival. The one-week celebration is going to be bigger and better than ever with the theme “Lobster Crawl 2012”
This year the event organizers have added a new dimension to the festival, the introduction of Lobster Crawl 2012 passport. The passport, which will be available shortly, will allow you to collect stamps at every venue during the week’s celebrations. Each stamp will entitle the passport holder with a ticket to enter into a grand raffle of a vacation package for two to the San Pedro Lobster Festival 2013. The package includes complimentary hotel stays, tours, golf cart rental, bar tabs, dinner and many more surprises. The raffle will be drawn on the night of the Block Party.
The annual San Pedro Lobsterfest Block Party has always been the main highlight of the week long festivities and this year promises to top the chart. Entertainment for the week will feature Belize’s well-known Garifuna Collective, Panerrifix Steel Band hailing from Our Lady of Guadalupe RC School in Belmopan and San Pedro’s Gino and the Shack Shakers.
2012 San Pedro LobsterFest is only 2 WEEKS AWAY! Do You Have Your Special Koozie ordered?
Plenty of time for you to get your tickets to Ambergris Caye for the 2012 Lobster Crawl.
A new twist being added is the Lobsterfest Passport for the Lobster Crawl -- your entire week here. Each event you attend, you get a stamp.
Here is the event line-up so far:
Friday, June 15: Kick-off party at El Divino Restaurant at Banana Beach
Sat, June 16: Evening party at Fido's Courtyard
Sun, June 17: Day Party at Corona Del Mar's Seahourse Bar
Monday, June 18: Party at Mojito Bar
Tuesday, June 19: Ramon's Village Pineapple Restaurant
Wednesday, June 20: Pedro's Inn's famous all you can eat Lobster Pizza party (always a very popular event)
Thursday, June 21: Party at Crazy Canuck's Bar
Friday, June 22: The Eco-Pro Kayak Challenge (Day one of two), watch it from Seaduced's catamaran, during the day and head over to Wet Willy's for the night time party
Saturday, June 23: THE BIG BLOCK PARTY AT CENTRAL PARK. A 17 piece steel drum band, Gino and the Shackshakers and the Garifuna Collective all perform from 6pm until late. Lots of food, drinks, competitions, entertainment...lots of good times.
International Sources
BOOK: Belize: Time Longer Than Rope
Ever feel like taking a break from your life? Ever taken a little holiday to the Caribbean and wondered what it would be like if you just stayed, and didn't come home?
Belize: Time Longer Than Rope is the story of a Sixties radical who who found herself at loose ends... and decided just to cut loose instead. After figuring out expatriate life in Belize, buying her own home and planting her gardens, she found herself in a different sort of trouble than she'd bargained for. You guessed it--love and all its complications.
As the Belizeans say, 'time longer than rope'.
New to nature No 74: Ripipteryx mopana
A tiny relative of the grasshopper has been identified from a single specimen in remote Belize Insects of the order Orthoptera, including grasshoppers and crickets, are known for their enlarged hind legs, ability to jump and the songs of males used to attract mates, mark territories and sometimes startle predators. Many orthopterans are good-sized and conspicuous insects, some attaining a body length of more than 11cm and wingspan of up to 20cm. There are, however, much smaller and more secretive forms.
S W Heads and S J Taylor of the Illinois Natural History Survey have described a diminutive and cryptic grasshopper-like species from Belize that is known only from a single specimen discovered in the Toledo District along the Rio Grande. Ripipteryx mopana belongs to a genus found exclusively in the Neotropics. Its 44 species are distributed throughout Central and South America. Although less than 5mm in length, R mopana is not short on looks, with a pattern of black, white and orange.
The species is the first of its genus and family – Ripipterygidae – to be discovered in Belize. Not much can be said about the habits of the species yet, although some related species are reportedly omnivores.
Biden's big day: Vice president's daughter gets married to her doctor fiance
Vice President Joe Biden's office has announced that his daughter has married a Pennsylvania doctor at a ceremony in Delaware.
The office said that 30-year-old Ashley Blazer Biden was married Saturday to Dr. Howard David Krein in Wilmington. She is a social worker for the state of Delaware and he is a plastic surgeon in Philadelphia.
Krein spends several weeks each year in Belize performing operations on children with facial deformities as part of his work for International Hospital for Children.
He also volunteers for Faces of Honor, who operate on soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and helps victims of domestic violence, reported ABC news.
'Howard is the perfect guy,' Jill Biden said. 'He's perfect for Ashley.'
Queen Elizabeth II: 60 years of gay rights
Belize joins the Commonwealth in 1981 where gay people can face imprisonment of up to ten years. Under the Immigration Act 1958, it says ‘any prostitute or homosexual’ is outlawed from entering Belize.
AmbergrisCaye.com 
