Local News

It is good to give God thanks and praise! And indeed we must --- having been spared the full impact of a queue of hurricanes from the African coast on a beeline to our homeland. Even though Hurricane Earl was almost a direct hit --- we did not sustain the level of damage that could be possible for a storm of that category. We have been truly blessed. We commiserate with those persons who suffered losses, particularly boat owners and those with properties in coastal areas. We pray that they recover swiftly.

On 28th August, the Anguilla Commonwealth Games Association (ACGA), in collaboration with the Anguilla Golf Association, held a golf tournament at the Temenos Golf course in an effort to raise funds for the team of athletes who will be traveling to New Dehli, India, to represent Anguilla at the 29th Commonwealth Games later this fall.

Two Methodist Ministers, assigned to Anguilla by the Leeward Islands District Conference, which was held in Antigua earlier this year, have taken up their duties. One of them is the new Superintendent of the Circuit, Rev. E. Dunstan Richardson, an Anguillian with over forty years in the Ministry. He has succeeded the Rev. Dr. H. Clifton Niles, another national, who superannuated recently.

In this photograph are former Chief Minister, Osbourne Fleming, current Chief Minister, Hubert Hughes, a friend and Parliamentary Secretary Hadyn Hughes.

The twelve students from the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School in Anguilla appearing here, are the island’s top candidates in the May/June 2010 CSEC Examinations. They achieved five or more grade ones in the regional exam.

Cove Castles a resort which has been operating for the past 25 years and is pleased to announce Mrs. Millie Hodge as their new "General Manager" for Cove Castles.

Mr. Myron Goldfinger is the Architect of Cove Castles and Mrs. June Goldfinger is the Interior Designer and they both were the original developers of the resort and present Directors.

POLICE REPORT

Four burglaries, eight thefts and one robbery were the crimes reported for the period August 18th to 25th. The burglaries took place in East End, South Hill and Katouche, and the items stolen included: a laptop computer, power tools, a blackberry cell phone, radio CD player, video games and cash.

After a break of one week, Chief Minister and Minister of Finance, Hubert Hughes, held his regular press conference on Tuesday this week.

He recalled that when he was in office in 2000, there was money in the Treasury to pay the normal national expenses but today, like the previous Administration, his Government was borrowing money each month to pay public servants.

The first public discussion on the new legislation, which outlaws the use of cellular phones by motorists while driving on the island’s public roads, and makes the use of seat belts mandatory, should have already taken place. It was planned for last week at the Teachers’ Resource Centre, but had to be postponed due to insufficient publicity and poor attendance.

A packed Bethel Methodist Church was the venue for an Appreciation Service on Sunday, August 22, in honour of Circuit Superintendent, Rev. Dr. H. Clifton Niles, Rev. Careen White and Minister-in-Training, Brother Damien Hughes.
Rev. Dr. Niles will be officially retiring from the Ministry on August 31 after 42 years of service, the last four of which he served in Anguilla.

Once again, Kidz Kare Inc has seen the end of another successful event: its 2nd Annual Kidz Kare Summer Retreat which was held during August 9th – 15 at the Albena Lake Hodge Comprehensive School Campus A. The seven-day long camp, which was founded and directed by Ms. Giselle Bartlette along with the assistance and support of her sister Chanice, and facilitators Juliet, Gillian and Shakarii, attracted 45 children from the island’s primary schools. The camp offered children between the ages of 4-13 years the opportunity to learn new skills, build confidence, foster social interaction, creativity and good sportsmanship.

On Friday August 20th, the Anguilla Table Tennis Association (ATTA) conducted a press briefing to inform the general public of the progress it was making in bringing table tennis into the mainstream of sports in Anguilla. The Director of Sports in Anguilla, Mrs. Wilma Proctor, who chaired the brief event explained: “The Anguilla Table Tennis Association was formed on September 24th 2008, after several meetings of interested persons.

What is the intake process?
Juveniles charged with committing a criminal offence appear before the Magistrate’s Court. If they plead guilty, or they are found guilty, they can be sentenced to Probation, Community Service or a Combination Order. Once sentenced they are required to visit the Department of Probation with their parents for an intake session. The intake process takes place after the Court hearing. The intake process is a procedure by which information is gathered from the Juvenile probationers and their parent(s).

A gift of a trip to Anguilla, as a guest at Cuisinart Resort and Spa, from Emmy award television chef celebrity, Rachel Ray, filled recipient Philadelphia culinary arts teacher, Wilma Stephenson, with much excitement last week.

Let me take this opportunity at the outset to commend and congratulate the students, teachers, education managers and parents of the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School for the exceptional results in the recent CXC and CAPE examinations. In this challenging period it is good to know that there is cadre of young people being “well-equipped” to secure our progress as a nation.

Normally, the return of power after an electricity interruption is no big deal, but I would sincerely like to take this opportunity to say a hearty “thank you” to the linesmen of ANGLEC who worked hard, beyond their call of duty, on Sunday morning to restore electricity in order to facilitate our church’s worship session. The night before a transformer had blown, which necessitated the replacement of two pole transformers to feed the church and surrounding areas.

Work is in progress on refurbishing two of the roofs of the Vivien Vanterpool Primary School at Island Harbour, where leaking and other problems of disrepair have been occurring for sometime.

After much talk and negotiation, the Anguilla Government and Chairman and CEO of Cap Juluca Properties Ltd, Adam Aron, have signed a new Memorandum of Understanding, paving the way for the further development of the property.
The signing ceremony took place at the hotel on Friday, August 13, in the presence of many staff members, some of whom had been involved in the negotiations.

The Opposition Anguilla United Front, which participated in the debate on the new MOU for Cap Juluca in the Anguilla House of Assembly last week, has reiterated its support for the project, but told reporters on Tuesday about some concerns it has with the agreement.

Police

Eleven crimes were reported for the period August 11th to 18th. There were four burglaries, one at Sandy Ground and three at South Hill. Items stolen in these burglaries included a stove, DVD player, CDs, kitchen utensils, cases of beers and Guinness, bottles of alcohol, a laptop computer and cash.