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Incumbent Belmopan mayor defeats two hopefuls
Municipal elections are not due until 2009, but with heavy in-fighting and public quarrels, the U.D.P. has begun early mayoral conventions in districts and the cities. There are plenty candidates to go around with the U.D.P. in control of all town councils and city councils around the country. Punta Gorda, however, sticks out, where the Mayor is P.U.P. and the rest of the Council is U.D.P. On Sunday, heavy weights in the U.D.P., both Ministers John Saldivar and Patrick Faber, were out in full force in Belmopan for a hotly contested three way mayoral race. Conventional wisdom would suggest that this support would have meant a lot for the candidate of their choice, Khalid Belisle. Well not so because the incumbent stayed the course. Voting began early in the morning and when ballots were finally tallied after nine last night, the mayor was ahead by more than a hundred votes defeating both newcomers, Belisle and Eugene Brown. The convention was not without its share of political drama as at least one Minister got into a spat with the sitting mayor, while the Belize City mayor was publicly berated by another high ranking U.D.P. member. Kendra Griffith has the story.
Kendra Griffith, Reporting
There was plenty of cheek kissing and handshaking going on in the Garden City on Sunday as candidates for the Belmopan City Council greeted those who would decide the U.D.P. slate for next year’s municipal elections. The convention had three Mayoral contenders who fielded a full slate of six councillors.
Elected in 2006, incumbent Mayor Simeon Lopez says his council did its job well, even though they experienced financial constraints under the P.U.P. administration.
Simeon Lopez, Mayoral Candidate, Belmopan “Streets were improved a lot, areas that used to be broken were cemented or instead of paving, we concreted a lot of junctions; at least nine junctions and they are no longer giving any problems and we don’t expect them to give any problems for the next fifteen to twenty years if any at all. We had to keep the city clean, we had to do our garbage collection, we had to do out maintenance of grass and the maintenance of grass and the maintenance of grass and drains, so in the area of municipal operations, we had to do that and we did a commendable job on municipal operations.”
One of the persons looking to unseat Lopez is Khalid Belisle who says he’s gonna put the people first.
Khalid Belisle, Mayoral Candidate, Belmopan “I think it’s a known fact that once you stop moving forward that’s when you get passed by and I am not seeing the progress that I think Belmopan is capable of and that’s why I decided to step up and offer myself because I am a U.D.P. and I want the U.D.P. to maintain the reigns of the administration of this city. We can’t sit around all the time and say no money noh deh. You can’t expect the money to fall into your lap and so that’s certainly one of the short comings. I think we need to focus more on putting our resources and our efforts into the citizens, the actual people here in Belmopan instead of just focusing on the infrastructure all the time. Yes the streets and drains are important but it’s the people that make the community what it is without that all we have is a shell.”
While Belisle thinks he’s going to get the support of Belmopan residents, he’s definitely got the nod from area rep John Saldivar and Minister of Education, Patrick Faber.
Patrick Faber, Khalid Belisle Supporter “I take special offence to anybody who tries to discredit young people because of their age, so that was the initial reason I got into the race, to put my support behind Khalid, but since then it has become a bigger issue because I have seen where Mayor Lopez and his team have really been going out doing negative campaigning trying to run down officials at this party. He has circulated a flyer against me now because of my involvement and we want to make it clear that there is no room for that kind of behaviour in the United Democratic Party and so I am here today to give my full support to Khalid Belisle hoping that he can unseat this mayor that now is on a rampage, I would say, to try to divide out party here in Belmopan.”
Simeon Lopez “My administration is one, as I said, of complete transparency and accountability and I cannot allow things that does not seem right to happen and that is one of the reasons I think, or one of the main reasons why I am being challenged at this convention. It’s always true and it has always been said that power corrupts, but absolute power corrupts absolutely and that is what the people of Belmopan, I am sure, will fight against today. We want to send a clean and clear message to the power that be that the people are the bosses and the people will speak today.”
And while at twenty-seven years old Belisle was being touted as too young to lead ... the third contender for the title of Mayor, Eugene Brown, came in at only twenty-one years old.
Eugene Brown, Mayoral Contender “I do see a lot of shortcomings that I believe we could have done better as a council. I believe that the Mayor could have done better. I am offering myself because I have a new ideas and a new vision for this city and also I am offering myself because I have a love for my city and I am willing to serve in whatever capacity as possible.”
But then it came time to stop talking and start voting ... almost two thousand area residents cast ballots and when the voting ceased at four, the tedious task of counting began. Although Lopez was leading through the tally, at one point Belisle’s camp erupted into cheers.
But it would be a premature celebration as not long afterwards, Lopez’s supporters also began to cheer when it was officially announced that the incumbent would return as the mayoral candidate for the U.D.P.
Dough Singh, Chairman, U.D.P. “We have Eugene Michael Brown with one hundred and ninety-seven votes, Mr. Khalid Belisle with seven hundred and sixty-seven votes, and we have mayor Simeon Lopez as the mayoral candidate with eight hundred and ninety-eight votes.”
Simeon Lopez “Thank you very much. The work still continues for the next six months. I had some worthy opponents in the person of Mr. Belisle and also councillor Eugene Brown. Thank you all very much. I want to thank everybody. This was a tough one. We had to get down and beat the streets. My wife can tell you when I leave home in the morning I don’t get back home until the night but it paid off.”
Members of the Belisle camp took the news hard, but the mayoral hopeful was gracious in defeat.
Khalid Belisle “It just wasn’t my time boss. God has a plan for me and obviously the plan isn’t for me to be the mayoral nominee of the U.D.P. for next March. I am going to ask you to support the U.D.P. slate for next March elections.”
John Saldivar, Khalid Belisle Supporter “Heartfelt congratulations to Mayor Lopez. I want to tell him and tell all U.D.P. supporters out there that we will all work like the devil to make sure that Mayor Lopez remains the mayor of Belmopan.”
Simeon Lopez “I’m willing to work with the Honourable Saldivar and I have always said that and I think we sat in here before we made the official results and we sort of worked out the plan that we will come together and mend the fences that were broken during this campaign.”
The winning councillors are: Quita Balona, Amilcar Umana, Pedro Carrillo, Olga Myers, Shawna Banner, Victor Perdomo. Kendra Griffith reporting for News Five.
Meanwhile, in Corozal Town the incumbent mayor, Hilberto Campos, has managed to stave off a challenge from his own deputy, Louis Brooks.
Arson suspected in string of fires
And from politics in the capital city we go south to Punta Gorda where police and the Fire Department are investigating a series of fires that completely gutted four houses in the southern village of Crique Sarco, Toledo. The fires have attracted the attention of police because the dwellings belong to three members of one family: a mother, a daughter, a son and the fourth, the caretaker of a neighbouring guesthouse. The first blaze occurred before ten last Monday night and destroyed an eighteen by forty foot wooden and thatch roof structure, owned by fifty year old Beatrice Bo, the former chairlady of the village. Bo now lives in Punta Gorda, but had some personal belongings inside the house. Fire officials could not definitively determine what caused the blaze since everything was burnt to the ground. There is no electricity in Crique Sarco and Bo was last in the house days before the fire.
But what really triggered an investigation pointing to arson was that the three other houses belonged to family members of Bo and occurred within days of each other. On Wednesday morning around six, not even two days after Bo had lost her dwelling, a detached kitchen belonging to her daughter, twenty-eight year old Zenaida Coc, which was situated right across the street, went down by fire. Again no one was at home at the time because Coc had left the village on Monday evening for Punta Gorda and her husband was in Placencia where he is employed.
The third blaze occurred on Thursday night around seven-thirty and gutted another wooden and thatch structure measuring twenty-four by eighteen feet. This dwelling was owned and occupied by thirty-four year old Marcos Coy. Coy, who is the health nurse for the area, was out at the time attending to a patient in the village.
The fourth and last fire occurred around six-thirty on Saturday morning and the house belonged to thirty-four year old Caliztro Bo, the son of Beatrice Bo. Caliztro, who is a farmer, was also not at home when his thirteen by sixteen foot wooden and thatch roof house went up in smoke. Punta Gorda Police are looking closely at an estranged relative of the Bo’s who they say is currently at odds with the family. Meanwhile, Deputy Officer in Charge of the P.G. Fire Station, Eldora Rubio, told News Five today that the cause of the fires could not be confirmed because everything was completely destroyed in each case and there were no eyewitness to the incidents.
Sister and girlfriend of accused murderer behind bars
Two women were taken to court this morning in connection with the ongoing investigation into the rape and brutal murder of a Belize City single mother Sandra Ruiz, on August tenth. The two are related to Darrel Grant, who has already been arrested and charged with Ruiz’s murder. Police had the two women in custody since last Thursday and when they appeared in court today Grant’s sister, eighteen year old Samantha Grant of Gentle Avenue and his girlfriend, twenty-one year old Kayla Davis of Ladyville, were both charged with Handling Stolen Goods. Samantha was charged for dishonestly assisting in the retention of three gold coins, while Davis was accused of the retention of one gold chain and a Mexican medal belonging to Ruiz.
Ongoing police investigations led to the Fair Brothers Pawnshop on Youth for the Future Drive where the four gold chains had been pawned by Grant and Davis. Police then visited Davis’ home in Ladyville, where Darrel Grant was hiding at the time of his arrest, and Davis handed over the stolen medal. In court both pleaded not guilty, but the prosecution objected to bail on the grounds that the investigation is not complete and that the defendants might interfere with the witnesses and obstruct the course of justice. The two women are to re-appear in court on September eighteenth.
While three are now behind bars in this murder case, Ruiz’s daughter, thirteen year old Nadia Ruiz, who witnessed the rape and murder of her mother is still recovering from the shocking experience. According to family members, her younger sister Ana is recovering at Belize Healthcare Partners. The eight year old girl has undergone two surgeries for head trauma, and while it doesn’t appear she will need anymore, doctors say she may need further medical attention from a neurological pediatrician abroad. The two sisters are grappling with the trauma of the gruesome events on the night of the murder and at this time returning to school is not a certainty for both. The family is contemplating whether the girls should relocate to Germany with their father.
Wife drops assault charges against husband
Domestic abuse is often reported to the police and then regularly dismissed in Court. And today at Magistrate Court number one, twenty-eight year old Claudia Saunders told Chief Magistrate Margaret McKenzie that she does not want any further court action against her alleged attacker and husband, thirty-five year old Brian Saunders. On Friday, nightclub owner Brian Saunders approached his wife, Claudia, the Operations manager at the Belize Zoo, cranked a nine millimeter pistol and pointed it at her. He then dragged her to his pick-up truck, forced her inside and drove to Democracia, known as Satellite City, a short distance away. Once at the location, Claudia says Brian fired a shot in the air, punched and kicked her and even threatened her life. After all that, Saunders was spared by his wife of charges including aggravated assault with a firearm, harm, damage to property, and usage of threatening words. He, however, could not escape the charge of discharging a firearm in public. For that Saunders was offered a bail of five hundred dollars and his case was adjourned until September eighteenth.
Two injured in Belize City shootings
There is no end to reports of crime and violence, and over the weekend, two more persons were injured in separate shootings, one of them critically. Police investigations reveal that the first victim, twenty-eight year old Angel Dorado, who is an agent at Ready Call Center on Newtown Barracks, was riding with a woman on a bicycle on Matron Roberts Street when he was shot. The incident occurred shortly after eight on Friday night when Dorado’s attacker rode up to him and shot him in the left upper side of the chest and left shoulder. Dorado is listed in critical condition at the K.H.M.H.
The second incident occurred around six that same morning and left a sixteen year old youth with an injured right ear. The youth, Randy August, told police that he was standing on the Vernon Street Bridge when another young man he knows only by the nickname “Cucu”, pointed a gun to his head and fired a shot. August was lucky as the bullet only grazed his right ear. Police have no suspects in any of these shootings.
Belize City man survives gunshot to the head
Not too often, victims survive bullets, in particularly when the gunshots penetrate the skull and brain. And while the majority of the cases we’ve reported have ended in loss of life and grief, there is one minor that has a good chance of leading a normal life after he was wounded last week. Such is the case of seventeen year old Adolfo Gomez, who was shot just one block away from his Queen Charlotte home as he returned from his job in Ladyville. Gomez was shot in the head at close range as he headed home shortly before nine last Tuesday night. The bullet penetrated his skull near the left temple and lodged in his brain, but after several hours of surgery, neurosurgeons at the K.H.M.H. were able to remove the bullet and stop the bleeding. For three days Gomez clung to life in a comatose condition. But today we can report that although still hospitalised, Gomez’s condition has improved from critical to fair, and he is now able to once again talk. When the incident happened, the Gomez family had all but given up. But this evening, just outside the surgical ward of the K.H.M.H. where he is currently recuperating, News Five spoke with Gomez and his mother, Flori. Medical Services Director at the K.H.M.H., Doctor Khalid Ghazy, explains the medical intricacies behind Gomez’ condition.
Dr. Khalid Ghazy, Dir., Medical Services, K.H.M.H. “That case actually is one of survival, one of the successful stories of Karl Heusner actually. He got a gunshot to the head and up to now he is in fair condition. We can’t say that he is in the stable up to now because most of these cases have an immediate impact because we talk about infections and these things that happen in those cases. Long term complications might be something like his vision or epilepsy or convulsions in his future but at the meantime we can say now it’s a successful case. It was dealt with vigilance from our neurosurgeon and it’s one of the successful cases that the Karl Heusner is proud of.”
Marion Ali
“Has that surprised you all that he actually survived that?”
Dr. Khalid Ghazy “Actually, yes. For a family when their loved one is hit in the head that’s definitely a little shocking. At the hospital we see some patients actually survive. There might not be much but this was one of the successful cases; that case.”
Adolfo Gomez, Survived Bullet to the Brain “I feel like I mi wah dead. From me think I mi wah dead and all bwai. Some ah dehn bwai seh I noh wah dead, I wah live. When time I want work, I would ah want my son or my daughter come and live wah lee different from me—real different from me, noot even live wah ghetto life or nothing like dat. I di live di ghetto life right now.”
Flori Gomez, Mother of Shooting Victim “When somebody come tell me dat my son ketch gunshot I mi feel bad but right now me happy fi my son. He done di talk and everything. Good fi he.”
Dr. Khalid Ghazy “The extent of injury was bad because the patient was in coma but it was an immediate action from the team.”
Marion Ali
“And then you performed a surgery right?”
Dr. Khalid Ghazy “Yes, they performed surgery. It was immediate surgery that was done to the patient to stabilise the bleeding from the brain tissues. And that by itself will decrease the pressure on the brain and the outcome most of the time would be good and that is what happened in this case. That does not mean that the other cases that come here will be intervened but there are certain cases there is a huge damage and the patient will not survive it. the surgery will not save them so this is the difference.”
As for the gunman who allegedly shot Gomez over an old beef, also seventeen years of age, he was remanded today to the Hattieville Boot Camp. Gomez says he forgives his attacker and holds nothing against him. The accused gunman, a resident of Allenby Street, was charged today in the Family Court with Attempted Murder, Dangerous Harm and Use of Deadly Means of Harm. His next court date is October seventh.
Waitress accuses customer of rape
A Guatemalan waitress has reported to police that she was raped at around one o’clock on Sunday morning. According to the thirty-three year old woman, she left her workplace with a male customer who she knew only as ‘Castillo’ and went to the man’s house on Water Lane. The woman says Castillo then dragged her into the bathroom and forced her to have sexual intercourse. Police are looking for Castillo.
Car dealer’s house jacked in his absence
Robbers took advantage of the absence of a car dealer and emptied the man’s house presumably between July twenty-fourth and August seventeenth. On his return from a trip abroad yesterday, forty-year old Marvin Williams of Neal Pen Road, reported to the police that his house had been burglarized. Williams was robbed of forty-six thousand, three hundred and sixty five dollars in electrical tools, kitchen and computer equipment, jewelry and clothing, as well as, a nine millimeter pistol and fifty live rounds of ammunition for the weapon. The robber or robbers also helped themselves to Williams’ IDs and bank cards. It appears they gained entrance through the aluminum louvers of the building.
Man charged with Suppression of Evidence
A twenty year old man has been charged with Suppression of Evidence, not a charge we hear of often. Police arrested and charged Michael ‘Quacky’ Foreman of Louise Bevans Street in Belize City for attempting to get a sixteen year old minor to drop a charge of Aggravated Assault. The young man, along with his mother, reported to police that on July twenty-second while he was on the basketball court located on Jane Usher Boulevard, he was offered money to drop the case. In January of this year, Foreman was charged for assaulting the minor and his friend with a gun on Curl Thompson Street. Foreman allegedly threatened the minor on July twenty-third saying that nobody stays in jail for long.
Chamber and Rotary announce Employer of the Year
The Belize Chamber of Commerce and the Rotary Club have announced the recipients of its first ever Employer of the Year awards. At a ceremony on Friday night Scotiabank walked away with the title of Overall Best Employer and Best Physical Environment. Other awardees include Citrus Products of Belize, named as the Best Industry Employer, Ka’ana Boutique Resort took the title of Best Tourism Employer, while the Belize Recycling Company was named Most Environmentally Conscious Employer. All four companies received the Rotary Club’s Paul J. Harris Award, a certificate, and a trophy. In March the Chamber of Commerce launched the competition, asking its members to nominate their employers. Proceeds from the ceremony will be donated to the Youth Business Trust, which assists persons eighteen to thirty-five years in with starting their own business.
Kidney Association has new faces at the top
The Belize Kidney Association has a new president and executive. The organisation held its Annual General Meeting at the Belize Institute of Management on Saturday and elected Andrea Cox as president, Olga Herrera as vice president, Godfrey Sosa as secretary and Ruby Nicholas was elected as Treasurer. Five other officers were also elected to serve in various capacities. The Association was formed in 2004 and has been working to offer assistance for kidney patients in Belize to deal with the rising cost of treatment for their acute and chronic conditions. They are currently embarking on a “Save Us Campaign” in order to raise funds.Anyone who would like to make a contribution to the Belize Kidney Association can contact them at 627-6057, 223-1346 or make a direct deposit to Scotia Bank account number 13-32-34.
Gentle Touch grabs 3rd consecutive championship
Gentle Touch grabs 3rd consecutive championship
Good evening, I’m James Adderley and you’re locked into this version of Sports Monday.
Week four of the RF&G Cup Tournament brought Benque DC to the M.C.C. Grounds for the long awaited shoot-out with the Belize Defence Force. And the Military wastes no time in going offensive when Evan Mariano fires this half volley looking for the quick lead. It’s another chance for the B.D.F. when Mariano turns on this ball but the Benque defense stands firm. At the other end the visitors get this look at goal only to see Pablo Martinez launch a high riser. We’re thirty-five minutes in when poor defensive play gifts this ball to Elias Donaire. He leaves the keeper prostrate in his wake as he gives Benque D.C. United a 1-zip lead. In the opening minutes of the second half this moment of danger is handled by the Benque keeper as B.D.F. looks for the equalizer. The equalizer does come seven minutes later when Dennis Serrano’s center is headed out to Dean Frazier who controls with the chest to unleash this bomb for the 1-1 score. It’s more pressure on Benque D.C. United when this center bounces in front of the goal but he lets his hands do the saving. Deon Flowers then mounts this individual effort from the right side that hits the wrong side of the net. Meanwhile folks, how Oliver Wiltshire misses this chance from pointblank range will remain a thing of mystery. But then the truth is stranger than fiction. Now people here is a perfect example of poor defensive positioning as Roberto Bernadez is allowed uncontested possession of this ball and he gives Benque D.C. United a 2-1 lead eighty-two minutes in. It’s desperation time for the army when Tyrone Pandy fires this spot kick at goal which inches over the cross bar. Meanwhile, when they say it’s never over till it’s over because we’re in the final minute of added time when Oliver Wiltshire makes amends for his earlier miss with this left foot grass head burner that ties the ballgame at two apiece forcing the two clubs to share the points.
In other action around the league F.C. Belize became the first team to stop the red hot Nizhee Corozal in a 2-zip blast at Corozal yesterday. Suga Boys Juventus battles to a second easy win with a 3-2 sinking of San Pedro, Hankook Verdes humiliated Wagiya out west in a 9-zip rout, while Llagulei of Dangriga emerged out of week four of the RF&G Cup with a 4-1 bashing of Georgetown Ibayani. Looking ahead to week five, the schedule finds five Sunday matches. Hankook Verdes sails to San Pedro Dolphins, Suga Boys Juventus heads to Nizhee Corozal, F.C. Belize will face undefeated Llagulei at the M.C.C. Grounds. Benque D.C. will host Georgetown Ibayani and the B.D.F. marches South against Wagiya.
Turning to female football competition, hats off to Gentle Touch of Esperanza who beat Delille Pumas of Dangriga 4-3 on Saturday to clinch this year’s national female football titles. It’s a 3-peat which means three times in a row and that’s big. Kimberly Perez of Gentle Touch led the league with twenty-five goals while teammate Abbi Halliday of and Nataki Alvarez of Delille Pumas tied for second in the goal scoring department with seventeen apiece.
Turning to the softball scene, let’s head west to the Juan Garbutt Stadium at Esperanza where yesterday Unitedville and Roaring Creek are locked in a struggle to reach the championship round in the Cayo female Softball league. We’re in the top of the first inning with one out and one on when Lynette Gabourel hits into this double play that gets Unitedville out. In the bottom of the second Tanya Davis brings home the first run of the outing with this single that gives Roaring Creek a 1-nil lead. Stephanie Francis then sacrifices herself to bring in the second run of the inning. The third run comes when pitcher Jean Trapp is victimized by this pass ball and for sure she’s not a happy trooper right now. In the bottom of the third inning, Trapp walks Shalae Ilo. Beluia Gillette then hits this grounder directly at second base. She is tagged out but the runner scores from third. Melita Ho Matute then makes contact with the ball. It doesn’t pass the infield but the runner from third, beats the tag to make it a 5-zip ballgame. In the meantime, Leandra Guy, pitcher for Roaring Creek would give up one hit and gets he world of help from her teammates especially on this double play as Roaring Creek goes on to post the 7-nil big W. we say congratulations. Roaring Creek now awaits Sunday’s battle at the Joan Garbutt Stadium between Belmopan and Camalote Crystal Pot to produce the other team to make it to the championship match.
In other softball news, results from over the weekend from Belize City competition shows that Club 313 bombed Brodies 11-1. Truckers Posse got past K.H.M.H. 7-zip. Belize Electricity Limited edged Telemedia 8-6, Belize City Council walloped K.H.M.H. 12-2, Brodies/M.O.E. burned Truckers Posse 15-14, K.H.M.H. then defeated Telemedia 11-7. Meanwhile, looking at Monday’s schedule inside the Roger’s Stadium, it will be club 313 in action against Central Bank.
Now let’s check in on the Belizeans at the Beijing Olympics and there on the board in lane five is Jayson Jones of Belize and there is the gentleman wearing number 1144 which means he has on a Belizean uniform. In fact, this is the actual start of this heat and Belizean Jones pulls up sixth out of seven which translates into immediate elimination which makes us wonder what was all the fuss about going in. Now meet Jonathan Williams of Belize participating in the semi-final round of the four hundred meter hurdles. And they’re off. Williams is still competitive in the middle of the race but fades down the stretch and has to settle for sixth place. Williams did make history by reaching the semi-finals but that’s where this chapter ends. Still one win, loose or draw I’m a Belizean and I hope you are too.
Hey folks, that’s our show for today. We invited you back same time, same place, next week. Jah over all, I’m James Adderley.
TONIGHT'S NEWS WAS PRODUCED FOR BROADCAST BY AMALIA MAI AND PREPARED FOR THE INTERNET BY DELAHNIE BAIN.
Municipal elections are not due until 2009, but with heavy in-fighting and public quarrels, the U.D.P. has begun early mayoral conventions in districts and the cities. There are plenty candidates to go around with the U.D.P. in control of all town councils and city councils around the country. Punta Gorda, however, sticks out, where the Mayor is P.U.P. and the rest of the Council is U.D.P. On Sunday, heavy weights in the U.D.P., both Ministers John Saldivar and Patrick Faber, were out in full force in Belmopan for a hotly contested three way mayoral race. Conventional wisdom would suggest that this support would have meant a lot for the candidate of their choice, Khalid Belisle. Well not so because the incumbent stayed the course. Voting began early in the morning and when ballots were finally tallied after nine last night, the mayor was ahead by more than a hundred votes defeating both newcomers, Belisle and Eugene Brown. The convention was not without its share of political drama as at least one Minister got into a spat with the sitting mayor, while the Belize City mayor was publicly berated by another high ranking U.D.P. member. Kendra Griffith has the story.
Two women were taken to court this morning in connection with the ongoing investigation into the rape and brutal murder of a Belize City single mother Sandra Ruiz, on August tenth. The two are related to Darrel Grant, who has already been arrested and charged with Ruiz’s murder. Police had the two women in custody since last Thursday and when they appeared in court today Grant’s sister, eighteen year old Samantha Grant of Gentle Avenue and his girlfriend, twenty-one year old Kayla Davis of Ladyville, were both charged with Handling Stolen Goods. Samantha was charged for dishonestly assisting in the retention of three gold coins, while Davis was accused of the retention of one gold chain and a Mexican medal belonging to Ruiz. 
Not too often, victims survive bullets, in particularly when the gunshots penetrate the skull and brain. And while the majority of the cases we’ve reported have ended in loss of life and grief, there is one minor that has a good chance of leading a normal life after he was wounded last week. Such is the case of seventeen year old Adolfo Gomez, who was shot just one block away from his Queen Charlotte home as he returned from his job in Ladyville. Gomez was shot in the head at close range as he headed home shortly before nine last Tuesday night. The bullet penetrated his skull near the left temple and lodged in his brain, but after several hours of surgery, neurosurgeons at the K.H.M.H. were able to remove the bullet and stop the bleeding. For three days Gomez clung to life in a comatose condition. But today we can report that although still hospitalised, Gomez’s condition has improved from critical to fair, and he is now able to once again talk. When the incident happened, the Gomez family had all but given up. But this evening, just outside the surgical ward of the K.H.M.H. where he is currently recuperating, News Five spoke with Gomez and his mother, Flori. Medical Services Director at the K.H.M.H., Doctor Khalid Ghazy, explains the medical intricacies behind Gomez’ condition.
The Belize Chamber of Commerce and the Rotary Club have announced the recipients of its first ever Employer of the Year awards. At a ceremony on Friday night Scotiabank walked away with the title of Overall Best Employer and Best Physical Environment. Other awardees include Citrus Products of Belize, named as the Best Industry Employer, Ka’ana Boutique Resort took the title of Best Tourism Employer, while the Belize Recycling Company was named Most Environmentally Conscious Employer. All four companies received the Rotary Club’s Paul J. Harris Award, a certificate, and a trophy. In March the Chamber of Commerce launched the competition, asking its members to nominate their employers. Proceeds from the ceremony will be donated to the Youth Business Trust, which assists persons eighteen to thirty-five years in with starting their own business.
Gentle Touch grabs 3rd consecutive championship
