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Last night's TV news on Channel 7, Channel 5, LOVETV, PGTV, West Vision (Cayo) and CTV 3. Also with the most recent Open Your Eyes, and other specials

The San Pedro Sun

Tropic Air announces new flight rates
Due to the increase in the cost of doing business in Belize, Tropic Air has announced an increase in their airfare effective Thursday, June 1st. The airline indicated that the new prices will go up by at least 7%, and it will apply to all domestic routes except flights from San Pedro Ambergris, and Placencia to the Philip Goldson International Airport. The exception is due to the considerable amount of traffic generated from the international airport. Tropic Air's President John Grief III explained that the new rate is reflective of the hikes of prices in the aviation industry. "The cost of the airplanes keeps going up, the parts, training, maintenance," said Grief. "It is not just because of one factor. But at the same time we also continue to invest in customer satisfaction and comfort."

Letter to the Editor: Favoring Local Vendors
Dear Editor: As a frequent visitor to San Pedro, I'm disappointed to see the artists have been moved from Central Park. I thought it was charming to see wood working and jewelry making. Personally, I never felt any pressure to buy and in fact, enjoyed conversing with the locals. Their new location is not in a place that most tourists go to. What is most frustrating is that no-one seems to be regulating selling on the beach, and from what I saw, the beach sellers are not peddling local or handmade art. Having lunch, I watched a woman sending her young child to "peddle" aggressively to diners on a patio. It was not a pleasant experience. Since the beach is used as a walking path, shouldn't those vendors have been moved as well? It would be nice if the policies could favor local residents with art made on the island.

Wolfe's Woofer: A Long Way
"I want to go exploring," I said to my friend Dave. "I want to hike up that jungle trail out by your corn field." I was spending the weekend at Dave's ranch right outside of Belmopan. "Be my guest," he said. "I'm going to sit here on the porch and drink beer. Stay on the trail and you'll be alright. If you get lost remember that all of the trails take you to the Belmopan road."

PUP Belize Rural South accepting applications for 2018 Municipal Elections
On March 9, 2017 a new PUP Belize Rural South Executive Committee (BRS) was sworn in by the National PUP Secretariat. Under the leadership of newly elected Chairman, Miguel Alberto Perez, the PUP BRS Executive Committee is reactivating the community service-oriented principles of their party while following in the footsteps of the Father of the Nation, Rt. Hon. George C. Price and as laid out in the PUP Constitution. The Party is operating under the philosophy of Servant Leadership. The PUP Belize Rural South Executive Committee has now revitalized its Party Arms: The United Women's Group, The Belize Youth Movement and The Marshalls Community Service Corp. These Party Arms are working together to bring education, upliftment, and empowerment to the community of Belize Rural South to ultimately achieve positive change in our environment.

Doctor Love: At Wits End
Dear Doctor Love, I do not know what to do with my fourteen year old daughter. She lies constantly. She is very convincing and doesn't stammer or get nervous. She talks and lies just come out. If I keep asking questions when something sounds wrong she will admit that some or all of it is untrue. I've tried taking away TV, her cell phone and computer and adding extra chores. I make her stay home on weekends but nothing works. I've told her that when someone lies all the time, they lose friends and nobody will believe them anymore. I would appreciate any suggestions. /s/ At Wits End

Misc Belizean Sources

Did you visit the National Agriculture & Trade Show Grounds fair?
The Beyond the Horizon 2017 team along with personnel from the U.S. Embassy-Belize are at the National Agriculture and Trade Show in Belmopan. Stop by our booth and learn more about the BTH 2017 construction projects and medical service events. We will be at the show through tomorrow.

Are you coming to the National Agriculture & Trade Show Grounds?
The Statue of Liberty makes an appearance again!

Breaking Belize News

Vehicle belonging to missing Canadian-American couple found
Reports to BBN is that the white Isuzu Rodeo belonging to missing Canadian national, Francesca Matus and American national Drew Devoursney, was found tonight in Paraiso, Corozal. The couple was reported missing on Wednesday when their friend, American national Joseph Milholen, went to pick up Matus to drop her off at the Philip Goldson International Airport.

Belize City teen missing
Nathanael Augustus, a 16-year-old student of Belize City, was reported missing today. Augustus is tall, of Creole descent and has brown skin.

Teenager drowns during agriculture show festivities
This weekend's agriculture show would have concluded today without any major incident but a late evening drowning put a damper on an otherwise successful agriculture show. The victim is a male teenager whose name is being witheld as BBN could not confirm if the family has been informed of the drowning.

Blogs

Special Delivery! Formula Delivered to the Manatees & Monkeys at Incredible WildTracks
On a hidden lagoon a few miles from Sarteneja Village on the mainland of Belize is an incredible operation. Wildtracks is a Manatee and Primate Rehabilitation Program run by an amazing couple, staffed by a tribe of volunteers and employees and run, almost solely, on donations. It's a large property with a main house, pools, lagoon, habitats and cages, cabanas, kitchens and�the residents. Manatees, big and tiny, monkeys of all ages, 4 big dogs, deer and quite a bit more. We were there on an important mission. A few weeks ago, we set out to put together a care package from the monkeys. They are caring for a handful of orphan howler monkeys that need a special kind of milk. These tots were brought into Wildtracks to get healthy and then work towards release with a monkey troop. They were stolen from their moms (often the mom is shot) to be sold as a pet�one was found on the jungle floor starving and covered with ants�

Turneffe Flats: Leading sustainable fisheries in Belize
Turneffe Flats has long been recognized as one of Belize's premier saltwater fly fishing, SCUBA diving and marine eco-tourism destinations. Located on the incredibly beautiful Turneffe Atoll, Turneffe Flats provides visitors access to the most biologically diverse atoll in the Caribbean. Green Globe first certified Turneffe Flats for its sustainable operations in 2013 and again this year the eco-tourism resort has proven its environmental credentials with a notable compliance score of 89%. Turneffe Atoll - home to this remarkable eco-tourism resort - provides pristine habitat for 260 fish species, 77 plant species and 5 spawning aggregation sites. The marine eco-system is a combination of healthy coral reef, both fringing reef and patch corals, expansive backreef flats, large lagoon systems, seagrass beds, and extensive mangrove forest. Turneffe Atoll is of significant economic and sociological importance to Belize as a major commercial fishery and ecotourism center, while also providing Belize City and the mainland coast with essential protection from hurricanes.

International Sources

Missing Canadian woman's car found abandoned in Belize
The mysterious disappearance of a Toronto woman who vanished with her American boyfriend in Belize last week deepened on Sunday when her car was found abandoned in a cane field near the village of Paraiso, in the northern district of Corozal. Francesca Matus, 52, and Drew DeVoursney, 36, were last seen driving the Isuzu Rodeo after leaving a nearby bar around 11 p.m. on April 25, police in the small Central American nation said. The car was found around 1:20 p.m. local time. "There was no person in the vehicle," said an officer with the Belize Police Department, who did not give his name. "That is all the information we can give at this time," he said. Joe Rifenbark, a friend of the missing couple, could not say what the discovery might mean when contacted at his home in Belize. "We're aware of that, but the information wasn't really supposed to be publicized," said Rifenbark, whose mother, Nancy Rifenbark, was with the couple at Scotty's Bar the night they went missing. Joe Rifenbark said police were processing the white SUV Sunday afternoon.

Rio Bravo Conservation and Management Area (de jungle)
Waar waren we gebleven? Wel, de eerste twee nachten in Belize verbleven we in Almond Tree Resort. Een zeer sympathiek, mooi en vriendelijk hotelletje aan zee. Zoals ik al eerder vermelde werden we onthaald door Leslie, een rondborstige Amerikaanse. Terwijl Lyn, de eigenares in het buitenland is, neemt Leslie haar taak op zich. En dat doet ze met heel veel bravoure! Corozal zelf is helemaal geen toeristisch stadje en we gebruikten deze twee dagen dan ook om de reis een beetje uit te stippelen en te keuvelen met de andere gasten (een Belgische moeder met haar drie dochters). De eerste avond gingen we naar het dorpje om een kijkje te nemen op de plaatselijke Art Market.

Caribbean Rolls Out Plans to Reduce Climate Change Hazards
Climate change remains inextricably linked to the challenges of disaster risk reduction (DRR). And according to the head of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), Robert Glasser, the reduction of greenhouse gases is "the single most urgent global disaster risk treatment". Glasser was addressing the Fifth Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) in the Americas. Held recently in Montreal, the gathering included more than 1,000 delegates from 50 countries, including the Caribbean. "We recognise that reducing greenhouse gas emissions is arguably the single most urgent global disaster risk treatment, because without those efforts our other efforts to reduce many hazards and the risks those pose to communities would be overwhelmed over the longer term," Glasser said.

Suomi NPP Satellite Sees Fires Across the Yucatan Peninsula
April is in the middle of the dry season for the Yucatan Peninsula which runs from January through May and naturally coincides with fire season. Farmers often use fire to return nutrients to the soil and to clear the ground of unwanted plants. Fire helps enhance crops and grasses for pasture. Some of the fires in this image may be wildfires, with natural (lightning) or accidental (human) sources. As the dry season progresses, the number of fires tend to grow, as does the blanket of smoke which settles over the land, and although the fire may help the farmers get their lands ready for planting season, unfortunately, the fires also produce smoke that degrades air quality. This natural-color satellite image was collected by the Suomi NPP satellite using the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument on April 25, 2017. Actively burning areas are outlined in red. Each hot spot, which appears as a red mark, is an area where the thermal detectors recognized temperatures higher than background. When accompanied by plumes of smoke, as in this image, such hot spots are diagnostic for fire. Suomi NPP is managed by NASA and NOAA.

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