Yesterday I had the privilege to address the student body of The Island Academy during their morning assembly. I was invited to talk about myself and Ambergris Today Newspaper. It was a very fulfilling experience as the students were very interested and had so many questions on how the newspaper operates and all the inner workings of the business. They had very intellectual questions and seemed to enjoy themselves, as did I. Thank you Teacher Helen for inviting me to your morning assembly; it was my pleasure to have addressed the students of The Island Academy. I had a great time. – Dorian Nuñez
Mr. Eliphaz Santos, English Teacher at Corozal Community College and previous teacher at San Pedro High School, has been in and out of the hospital for the past two months. So far, he has been diagnosed with leucopenia and thrombocytopenia and will need to undergo further medial treatment and testing. Some of the tests he has to undergo include bone marrow tap, Epstein Barr and cytomegalovirus. Any assistance rendered to Mr. Santos will be greatly appreciated since he has huge medical bills to pay. Thanks for your kind contribution to Mr. Santos.
Belize Bank Acct. San Pedro: 245712
Cell: 604-3668
/s/ Endevora Forgenson, Principal Corozal Community College
Police are still investigating the death of San Pedro resident Juan Guemez, whose body was found floating in the lagoon at the end of Jewfish Street at around 4:20p.m. on Thursday, November 5, 2009. Mr. Guemez’s bicycle was also found submerged in the lagoon. According to Police, the body was found by a neighboring resident who was checking on his boat. The body of Mr. Guemez was shortly transported to Belize City by boat for an autopsy report.Police continue their investigation. Mr. Juan Guemez was 64 years old.
Francis Eiley arrives in San Pedro after seven long years in jail from a lifetime conviction that was overturned by the Privy Council in London. A very large crowd of family and friends were at the airport to welcome him home. Everybody then moved to El Fogon, where his home is situated. Francis was very happy to see all of his family, some he had not met yet and long time friends. Welcome Home Francis.
Francis Eiley, popularly known as Chino, has been imprisoned for seven years now, but is today a free man. Most people in San Pedro, friends and relatives, strongly believed and knew that Chino was innocent of that horrendous criminal charge trumped up on him by the San Pedro Police and the prosecution. But everyone felt that Chino was innocent and today the justice system has proven all of us right. Chino has been declared innocent of all charges and has been declared a FREE MAN.
The declaration has been officially given to the family of Chino, Norman and Susana Eiley, of San Pedro Town. This has sent rippling waves of emotional happiness and enthusiasm on hundreds of people who have been sympathetic towards Chino and warm hugs and kisses have been pouring on the grieved family who has been crying for justice for the past seven years.
Today, their cries have been transformed into tears of joy and thanksgiving. But relatives and friends are not stopping there. When we visited the Eiley home to share in the happiness, friends were talking about a welcome homecoming to Francis to return to him some of the love and joy that he has been denied for a long time.
So to Chino we say congratulations on your innocence, thank you for your faith in God's goodness and justice, and a salute to your perseverance. For now Ambergris Today and all of San Pedro would like to say: "Forgive the past and move on to greater endeavors".
Francis says he kept in touch with San Pedro through the Ambergris Today Newspaper.
He says the Angels are his favorite feature.
Miss World Belize Letty Lara held a fashion show fundraiser to showcase some of the clothing she will be wearing during her tour of London and Africa as she sets for a month-long whirlwind of activities for the Miss World Pageant 2009. The event took place at Fido’s last night as she and her friends also modeled clothing from local island boutiques. Letty departed from San Pedro today for London. All of Belize, and especially her family and friends from San Pedro, wish her the best of luck, knowing that she will makes us very proud of her.
Letty left for London this morning for her month-long tour of the Miss World Pageant that will take place in South Africa in December
Letty packed clothing for a month-long trip
Friends and family were at the airport to bid Letty farewell and luck
What it means to you and me? The country of Belize has been declared by the Prime Minister of Belize as officially being in a recession for some six months now. Prime Minister Honorable Dean Barrow said in a press conference that the statistics are showing a considerable slowdown in the economy, and though he had been refraining from announcing it, it is now time for Belizeans to know and to brace up to battle the crisis.
What does a recession mean to you and me? First of all we all need to understand what a recession is. A recession is a general slowdown in economic activity and a deteriorating economy. Cash is not moving around from one hand to the other, and when it does it does so at a much slower pace.
It means a decline in the GDP, the gross domestic product, again affecting cash flow. It means for many people unemployment. Because of the slowdown in trading, many businesses have to lay off workers, thus an increase in unemployment. It means that the consumer of products is spending less, thus the businesses experience a decrease in their sales and those offering services experience it likewise.
To put it in very simple terms for those who do not understand economics, it means “hard times”. “Noh money deh!” Those who had it good will now have it a little bad. Those who had it bad will have it worse. Those who had it really bad are now in crisis with the possibility of losing their jobs, homes, or property. Some even lose their lives.
So what does this mean to you and me? It means that if we are serious and responsible, we have to brace up for the hard times. First of all we have to modify or slow down on our spending. If you were buying brand names for $100, we need to tighten up by purchasing regular brand for half the price. If you were spending extensively on non necessary items like cigarettes, liquor, jewelry, pleasure traveling, etc, you must slow down, if not cut it off completely.
In the homes we can save on electricity, telephone, water, and other utilities by being careful how we use them. For example, when a room is not being used at night, cut off the power in that room, and if you are used to opening the shower for 15 minutes to take a good shower, open the shower to soap up properly, then close it, and then open again to rinse at the end. Got It? Why Not?
You will be surprised how much money you can save and all of this helps the country in the fight to come out of the recession. Cut of wastage. Again you will be surprised how much waste there is in your home if you take a careful inventory.
As a responsible newspaper and as one with a positive attitude Ambergris Today would like to offer useful tips that we can adopt to help during the hard times of the recession. We’ll keep updated and posted with valuable ideas. All Belizeans must do their part to help OUR country to come out of the recession as soon as possible. The good news, most recessions only last a year or two, so the end is in sight. We just need to brace up.
Ocean Academy Students Take Pride in Preserving Their Heritage and Protecting the Reef in Caye Caulker
Ocean Academy students joined organizations and individuals across the globe to help clean up and prevent water pollution. Twenty Ocean Academy high-school students and teachers beautified the Caye Caulker beaches in October, from the Split to the CBTIA Nature Reserve near the airstrip. But that’s not all they did. As part of the International Coastal Cleanup, organized by Ocean Conservancy (www.oceanconservancy.org), the students categorized and documented each trash item along the beaches to learn more about the greatest causes, and possible solutions, to water pollution.
The students enjoyed the research experience and learned that plastic products dominate the trash results:
* 749 caps and lids
* 406 plastic beverage bottles 2 litres or less
* 392 plastic bags
* 356 plastic cups, plates, forks, knives and spoons
* 146 food wrappers and containers
* 108 straws and stirrers
* 93 shoes and clothing
* Plus items in these categories
a) Ocean/Waterway activities (fishing line, rope)
b) Smoking-related activities (cigarettes, lighters)
c) Dumping activities (tires, building materials)
d) Medical and personal hygiene (condoms, diapers, syringes)
Ocean Academy’s motto - “Preserving Our Heritage, Creating Our Future” - reflects the high school’s deep commitment to environment stewardship.Ocean Academy students study marine biology and pollution prevention in the classroom.Every student puts that knowledge to practical use with environmental service projects.In 2009, students have assisted biologists from FAMRACC and Fisheries with projects such as mangrove reforestation, fish surveys, nature trail sign painting, and observations of coral bleaching and elk horn spawning.Photos of these activities are posted on the school’s website: www.cayecaulkerschool.com
Ocean Academy collaborated with the Caye Caulker Environmental Youth Club (a leader in the Coastal Cleanup for several years), marine biologists from Siwaban, and community volunteers.Thank you to Mrs. Virginia Vasquez who facilitated the Coastal Cleanup event as part of her desire to inform and encourage youth to pursue a well-rounded education.
Farewell Fashion show Wednesday, November 4, at Fido's Courtyard..... Letty will model the clothes that has been sponsored for her to wear while she is in South Africa. Other local girls will also model clothing from different boutiques. Autographed posters will be available. Fabulous prizes will be raffled. $1 Hot wings and lots to drink. Re-Live the moment when Letty was Crowned at Miss World Belize pageant. and......................ALSO........................... a sneak peak of the actual EVENING DRESS she will be wearing for the Miss World Pageant in South Africa!!!!!!
Don’t Miss it! Ticket s $10.00 At Fido's Courtyard Contact Letty @629-5676 Tickets also available at Designing Solutions.
Tropical Depression 11 Forms! - The Hurricane Season is almost over and things had never been more quiet, until this bugger appeared this week. There is a disturbance out there, as many of you know by now, so we urge everybody to keep a vigilant eye on the weather updates. Hopefully it will pass us by.
Tropical Depression Eleven has formed in the Southwestern Caribbean, off the coast of Costa Rica, and appears poised to intensify into Tropical Storm Ida later today. TD 11 has increased its organization and heavy thunderstorm activity this morning, and visible satellite loops clearly show the rotation of TD 11's cloud pattern. The presence of a surface circulation was not evident in this morning's QuikSCAT pass, but the satellite presentation of TD 11 was convincing enough to allow NHC to declare this a tropical depression. QuikSCAT saw top winds in the 25 - 30 mph range this morning, and winds at San Andreas Island, about 80 miles north of the center of TD 11, were easterly at 28 mph at 9am EST.
TD 11 is currently under moderate wind shear, 10 - 15 knots, and shear is expected to remain in the moderate range as long as the storm remains south of 14N latitude (central Nicaragua). Sea Surface Temperatures (SSTs) are 29°C and the Tropical Cyclone Heat Potential is about 40 kJ/cm^2, which is plenty of energy for a hurricane to form, if the center remains over water long enough. There is dry air over the northern Caribbean, but this is too far north to slow down development. A limiting factor for development may be the formation of a tropical disturbance (Invest 96E) 500 miles to its west, over the Eastern Pacific south of Guatemala. If this new disturbance grows strong enough, it may compete with TD 11 for moisture.
The forecast for TD 11 The forecast for TD 11 is highly complex with high uncertainty. Steering currents are weak in the Southwest Caribbean, and TD 11 will move slowly over the next two days. The future steering of TD 11 will strongly depend upon the development and track of the Invest 96E disturbance 500 miles to its west. If 96E develops and tracks northwards towards Guatemala, as suggested by the GFDL model, TD 11 would likely be steered northwards later this week, remaining over water as it approaches the Cayman Islands on Monday. If, on the other hand, 96E moves due west away from 97E, as suggested by the NOGAPS model, 97E might also move due west, over Nicaragua and Costa Rica, and emerge over the Eastern Pacific early next week. Another complicating influence might be the development of an extratropical or subtropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico's Bay of Campeche on Saturday or Sunday. The GFS and ECMWF models are predicting the formation of a low pressure system over the Bay of Campeche this weekend, along the remains of an old cold front. This low is expected to track northwards towards Louisiana, and might act to also pull TD 11 northwards. The exact amount of steering influence this extratropical low and 96E might have on TD 11 depends strongly on how large and intense TD 11 becomes. At present, TD 11 is a very small system, and so is only being affecting by steering influences in its immediate vicinity.
If TD 11 intensifies into a tropical storm in the next three days, as seems likely, the storm will probably tap into moisture from the Pacific Ocean. This moisture will flow over Costa Rica, western Panama, and southern Nicaragua into TD 11's circulation, bringing 3 - 6 inches of rain today through Friday. Heavier rains are likely along the east coast of Nicaragua, where an intense spiral band of rainfall has formed this morning. An Air Force Hurricane Hunter mission is scheduled to investigate TD 11 this afternoon to see if it has become Tropical Storm Ida. (Dr. Jeff Masters' WunderBlog, Weather Underground)
Bandage International is a Canadian medical charity that is offering a first aid and CPR course tomorrow and Wednesday at the Sandbar in partnership with the Belize Red Cross. This course will cover a variety of emergency situations such as: heart attack, stroke, burns, heat related emergencies, diabetes, seizures etc. For more information or to register email Darryl Chickness at dchickness@hotmail.com or call 629-7200. The course runs tomorrow and Wednesday from 9am to 4pm. The course is $20 Bz which is actually a donation to the Belize Red Cross.
