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Specials and Events

Last night's TV news on Channel 7, Channel 5 and CTV3
Also with the most recent Open Your Eyes, and the Dickie Bradley Specials


The San Pedro Sun

Doctor Love: Newly Wed
Readers, please send your letters. They can be emails, formal letters or handwritten notes. They are edited solely for grammar and spelling. Also, they are sometimes edited for length. Dear Doctor Love, I have been married for five months. My husband and I are very loving with each other. Every day when he leaves for [�]

Letter to the Editor: San Pedro Junior Sailing Club
Dear Editor, The San Pedro Junior Sailors Club (SPJSC) would like to thank everyone that helped put on a fabulous fundraiser last Saturday with a BBQ in the park during the day and at Fidos with Kelly McGuire that evening. Thanks go out to Kelly McGuire for having us, Fidos for hosting and Cowboy Doug for auctioneering. We also want to thank those that contributed raffle and auction items; Jason Cruz for the beautiful painting, Graniels , Captain Sharks, Coco Beach, Rag A Muffin Tours, El Secreto, Tropic Air, Portofino, Caprice, War Paint, Train Station, Wild Mangos, Searious Adventures, San Pedro Hardware, Zen Arcade Wellness Center, Sun Breeze Hotel, Lino's Meat, Caye Mart, Bowen and Bowen, Town Board, Carole Goudreau, Vicky Ellias, Angel at Artistic Skin Design, Joel and Sue and Remax Southwind for dinner for two at Victoria House.

Wolfe's Woofer: Not Quite Enough
"Gary, I notice you're really walking strangely," I said. "It looks kind of weird." "Oh, I can explain that," he said. "Back home in Bend, Oregon I use spray deodorant. When I ran out of deodorant here I went to a local store but they didn't have spray deodorant. I bought a different kind and [�]

Misc Belizean Sources

Belize Tourism in Full Bloom
Belize's growing tourist arrival numbers are outpacing the wider Caribbean region, said Jose Manuel Heredia Jr., the country's minister of tourism and culture, in an address at an annual tourism gathering held earlier this month. Belize hosted 263,065 overnight tourists between January and November of 2013 (the latest date for which figures are available), a seven percent increase compared with the same period in 2012. Heredia said private investment in tourism in Belize, a destination whose largest hotel has 120 rooms, is also growing. "In 2013, we saw an increase of 21.2 percent in the number of tour operators in Belize and 8.4 percent growth in licensed accommodations establishment, meaning that we now have 1,400 licensed tour guides." Tourism growth also provides "thousands" of employment opportunities for Belizean hospitality workers, said Heredia.

Belize River Valley Expo 2014
The Belize Valley River Expo was Friday and Saturday. Looks like they had a great turnout. "Belize River Valley Eco-Tourism & Commerce Expo."

A Good Start Feeding Program Makes Progress
Feelgood news of the day. The A Good Start Feeding Program is casting their foundations. Great work! "The day of the casting finally started , enough cement , mason men and helpers, mixer, 18 yard of sand and gravel, 65 bags of cement And a lot of dust.....at the end of the day a elephant foot of rum and waiting it too dry....excited that the next stage is getting done"

Cayo International Banking Fair
The Atlantic International Bank uploaded a short video showing yesterday's International Banking Fair at the Cayo Welcome Center. "International Banking Fair Highlights"

Rick Galvez Concert
The Rick Galvez concert at the - ARE THOSE SKULLS ON THE STAGE? What in the... They have some really artistic pictures from the event at the Soul Project last night, where Rick revealed some new songs from his upcoming album.

Belize Jungle Dome Golf Scramble
The 3rd annual Roaring Creek Golf Scramble was yesterday. They got some funny pictures of the event. Congratulations to the Roaring Creek team, which took first place(of course). The scramble was a fundraiser for Belmopan area football teams. "A fabulous day was had by all at the Roaring River Golf Course, for the 3rd Annual Belize Jungle Dome 2 Person Scramble. It was a really fun day with all the players enjoying the light-hearted atmosphere and fun in the sun... Also thks to all who donated prizes. Too many too mention :-) We raised $715 to be donated towards local football teams in the Belmopan area."

Western Ballaz Win First Home Game
It was an amazing first home game for the Western Ballaz. They kept their number 1 spot by defeating the Dangriga Warriors 63 - 52 in a high energy match that was close for much of the game. The Sacred Heart College auditorium was packed to capacity with all their Cayo fans cheering them on. The first game between SHC and SHJC went back and forth many times, with SHJC winning by 1 point. Mayor John August was in attendance and gave the inauguration speech, and Javier Gutierrez did a spectacular job as MC. Next week, the team travels to San Pedro to play the Tiger Sharks.

Belmopan Bandits Defeat Toledo Diplomats
Congratulations Belmopan Bandits! They hosted and defeated the Toledo Diplomats last night with a score of 76 - 64. They are tied for second place behind the Western Ballaz. They travel to Corozal to play the Heat next Friday. "We stand 2-1!!!! Final score Belmopan 76- 64 Toledo"

The beauty of Belize at the San Antonio waterfalls
On any given day, the beautiful waterfalls at San Antonio village, Toledo district is always a relaxing outing for the entire family. The road to the village is paved nicely so a drive to this rural part of Toledo is no hassle. The residents of this historic village extend a warm welcome to one and all.

CTV3

Caye Caulker Chronicles

Blogs

A Busy Beautiful Day in Belize City: Street Art Festival, Canoe Racing, Cracklin' Pig & More
Yesterday morning, I jumped aboard (I had an excellent night's sleep) the San Pedro Belize Express water taxi for the ride to Belize City. An easy hour and a half later, we pulled in and the conch & lobster boats were looking as beautiful as ever. I know what you are thinking. Belize City beautiful? Well�some of it is. And these working fishing boats look pretty to me from every single angle. No time for dilly dallying with boats. It was about 11:20am and there was a canoe race ending at the Riverside Tavern. This Guinness sponsored Boom to The City Canoe challenge is one of the pre-races for the BIG La Ruta Maya Race that takes place in a few weeks over the Baron Bliss Holiday weekend.

24/7 Loe Carb Din'r: Amish Turnip Bake
So turnips usual make us say yuck. Well, maybe nairy everyone, but y'all have ta admit thay air nairy a'winnin inny popularitee contests n' t'culinree worl. Hard ta compete wit all at bacon an' thems cupcakes. But the if'n y'all add t''Amish' part�I have nev'r foun inny Amish food at wuz nairy deliciyus. My husban' oncet brung trayler sum leftovers frum un Amish restrunt. It wuz so amazyun', I promiss I licket t'styrofoam contun'r. Thishere is purty dadgum close. Pure komfert food an' a deliite ta someone who misses mashet potatoes. Verr mild. I baset thishere off a recipe I foun at Food.com.

VIDEO: Jungle Sunset in Belize
Shot early in February by hotel guest Toby Clarkson

International Sources

Well-funded program tries new approach to tackle overfishing in developing world
With small-scale fisheries that feed many of the world's poor under constant pressure from overfishing, a coalition of conservation groups has turned to one of the oldest ways of dividing the catch in an attempt to promote sustainability. Instead of competing for the same populations and hauling in as many fish as fast as they can, participants in the Fish Forever project assign individuals, villages and cooperatives "rights" to areas known as TURFs - territorial user rights in fisheries. The zones are paired with protected areas where no one is allowed to fish, providing adjacent parts of the ocean where fish populations replenish and spill into the TURFs. Local residents develop their own methods of monitoring and enforcing protections for both areas. Rare has teamed with the Environmental Defense Fund and scientists from the University of California at Santa Barbara to carry out the effort in five countries: Belize, the Philippines, Indonesia, Brazil and Mozambique. They have raised $27 million from organizations such as the Bloomberg Philanthropies and are furthest along in Belize, where they hope to have 3,000 square miles of ocean under the system by 2020.

OAS anti-corruption mechanism to visit Jamaica
An Organisation of American States (OAS) commission is scheduled to visit Jamaica in April to meet with representatives from oversight bodies responsible for preventing, detecting and punishing corruption. The commission, made up of representatives from El Salvador and Grenada, is from the Mechanism for Follow-Up on the Implementation of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption (MESICIC). They will collect information in the field about how these organs perform their functions, which serve as inputs for the preparation of the report to be drawn up by the MESICIC on Jamaica in its September 2014 meeting. According to the OAS, the Anti-corruption Mechanism is also expected to visit Belize, Haiti, Grenada, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Suriname in April as part of the framework of the Fourth Round of evaluations.

Mexican National Tourism Forum on "Mundo Maya" Begins
The 12th National Tourism Forum 2014 opened in the Mexican state of Yucat�n focusing on "Mundo Maya", as one of the country's best tourist destinations, fostering development and economic growth. According to Fernando Mart�, general organizer of the forum, the event running through next Tuesday, is attended by ministers from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Belize. During the forum, ministers will discuss land and air connectivity, accommodations, integration of touristic circuits, credit availability and modernization of archeological sites. Tourism Ministry data show "Mundo Maya" covers 12 percent of the national territory, about 250,000 square meters. It also represents the 38 percent of protected nature reserves, a 46 percent of archeological sites open to the public and 21 percent of World Heritage sites.

The Mystique of the Ancient Maya.
Mayan culture has long been disputed over the years. Who was this ancient culture, what were their beliefs and how has their culture been depicted and portrayed throughout history? There have been various interpretations of this civilization, and who's to decide which one is entirely correct? It's hard to say, but we do have evidence available to help point us in the right direction. Just like with anything, the individuals who recount history have a lens that they see it through. They carry with them values and beliefs that alter their perspective on what's being presented to them. This is a critical component of understanding and describing history that the reader needs to consider when evaluating what is and what is not true. Dr. Adam T. Sellen, a researcher in the Peninsula Centre of Humanities and Social Sciences at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, was kind enough to speak to our class about these very questions this past week with a lecture he crafted together entitled "The Mystique of the Ancient Maya." Dr. Sellen's presentation dealt with the current representation of the Mayan culture and how society has come to these conclusions. From the mid 1800s until present day, a wide variety of explorers have visited the Mayan ruins that stretch from the Yucatan Peninsula, down to Belize and through parts of Guatemala. Each explorer carried with them a different perspective to see these ruins through. A common depiction of the Mayan civilization has been that they were this extraordinarily unique group; however, this is simply untrue. The Mayans shared many characteristics with cultures like the Egyptians, Assyrians and the Greeks. A distinct writing style, history of conquest and conflict, and writings of people of power and significance are all present in these ancient cultures. Despite that, modern society has completely idealized and sensationalized the Mayan culture to help reinforce the narrative that's been created over time.

BCB Holdings Slides As It Swings To Loss
BCB Holdings Ltd saw its shares fall sharply Monday after it revealed that it swung to a loss in its fiscal third quarter. In a statement, the parent company of The Belize Bank reported a net loss from operations of USD2.7 million for the three months to end December, compared with a USD2.1 million profit a year earlier. That brought the loss for the first nine months of the financial year to USD4.8 million, compared with a profit of USD4.7 million a year earlier. BCB Holdings shares were down 11.1% Monday morning, one of the biggest declines on the London market.

Service Trips: The Underwater World of Belize
Why Belize and its Underwater World this Summer? A service trip to the underwater world of Belize will completely change the way you view the sea. If you have ever considered studying or working in science or marine biology this is a great way to learn what it's all about. It will introduce you to new skills, and give you a grounding in invasive species management, marine conservation and biology. If you are looking for more this summer, BELIZE: GUD MAWINTEEN SCUBA AND ENVIRONMENTAL COMMUNITY SERVICE PROGRAM may just be the perfect destination for you! WHERE WILL YOU GO? You'll be in a remote dive camp in a UNESCO World Heritage Site, surrounded by turquoise Caribbean Sea. The data collected during the surveys will aid national and international research and assist with lionfish population management efforts.The data collected will contribute to research publications, written by field scientists, collected by YOU. By reducing the population through culling dives you will be directly responsible for reducing the pressures of the lionfish invasion in the Caribbean.

MaLe Dane
MaLe (pronounced Mah-Lee) Dane, LA Native by way of Belize, is a graduate from the School of Hard Knox with a PhD in Hustle N Flow. A triple threat and one of LA's best hidden secrets, the Belizean-American Rapper, Songwriter and Actress has arrived ready to tell HER story! Nominated as 2012 Best Independent Female Hip Hop Artist, MaLe creates music of substance that everyone can relate, ride and party to. The debut ALBUM "Live Fast, Die Pretty" is scheduled to be released Spring 2014, and includes the hit single "W!F!" and the club banger "It's Go Time" featuring Lady Gaga. Currently trending on Coast2Coast mixtapes Indie Top 100, Lady MaLe Dane is catching fire and soon it won't be long before the rest of the world figures it out!

Best islands around the world, according to TripAdvisor
Nothing beats the serene beauty of an island vacation. And TripAdvisor travelers agree. The travel review site just announced their top island destinations for 2014 based on user reviews and ratings. The Travelers' Choice award winners were determined based on the reviews and opinions of millions of TripAdvisor travelers around the globe. Well known Caribbean destinations like Turks and Caicos top the international list but adventure seekers should be on the lookout for unique finds like Nosy Be in Madagascar. Marco Island, Fla., which ranked first on the best U.S. island list also made it to the international list. 1. Ambergris Caye, Belize: This tropical destination received top reviews by hitting a sweet spot between authenticity and luxury. Divers will enjoy a dip in the Belize Barrier Reef while swimming alongside angelfish, elkhorn coral, cleaner shrimp and stalactites.