Tonight Belmopan police are investigating an armed hold-up of 40 to 60 tourists and 5 local tour guides by a group of seven bandits around 3:00 p.m. today, near Actun Tunichil Muknal (Mayan for ?Cave of the Stone Sepulchre?), a site located behind Teakettle, a village along the Western Highway.
While there has not yet been any formal press report from the Police Department on the incident, police in Belmopan have confirmed to the newspaper that there was a robbery in the area, but they say that they are presently investigating and cannot comment further at this time.
Edward Arthurs, 26, and Noel Usher, 25, alleged members of Southside, a gang operating in the Fabers Road area, have been charged with the murder of Anchor security guard Oliver Blanco, 62, who was shot and killed about 10:30 a.m. yesterday.
Arthurs and Usher were arraigned when they appeared today in the #2 Magistrate?s Court. They were remanded into custody until June 30.
The 2006 Atlantic Hurricane Season opens today, June 1, and meteorologists are forecasting an above average year, though forecasters say that the season won?t be as active as last year.
The prediction this year is for 13 to 16 named storms, with 8 to 10 becoming hurricanes, and 4 to 6 of those ?major? hurricanes of Category 3 strength or higher.
I have been watching how the recent events surrounding the controversy of oil exploration in the Sarstoon-Temash National Park, in Toledo, has been unfolding. There are a few things that I?d like to point out for the rest of the nation based on my observation.
You don?t have to be an expert in anything having to do with the Sarstoon and the Temash, anything having to do with national parks or oil exploration or party politics or Non Governmental Organizations, no, you didn?t have to be an expert in anything to know that there were big people who would come after Greg Choc and SATIIM, the organization Choc leads which is trying to stop US Capital Energy from commencing seismic oil exploration in the Sarstoon Temash national park.
It was do or die for F.C. Belize and Hankook Verdes as they rallied in their separate battles to compete for the chance to dethrone New Site Erei. New Site had already qualified for the finals and was playing basically for pride against Verdes. Their only blemish for the season was a 3-2 loss back in Week 4 to Belmopan United. The Placencia Pirates had fallen from grace in the end. Their meeting with F.C. Belize was just a reckoning. They were hoping to personally deny F.C. a chance of making it to the finals.
Jaime Zaldivar, may he rest in peace, was an icon in Belize amateur basketball, but I had to terminate him as head coach of the Kremandala Raiders in 1992 - the team?s first season, which was the inaugural season for semi-pro basketball in this country.
Jaime was an icon in amateur basketball here because, not only had he been a starting guard on championship teams and an All Star selection, but he had survived Belize?s worst sporting accident ever.
I have been following developments between SATIIM and the Government of Belize and the oil company. The executive director of SATIIM may consider this an attack, but it is not meant to be. I am sincerely asking: who does SATIIM represent and how do the people in the communities concerned benefit from SATIIM? This was my question to some people in Crique Sarco and Otoxha. Nobody seems to know. They heard about it, but do not see its presence in the villages. They are saying the director enjoys privileges that the masses of the Mayas do not. But, of course, I could be in contact with the wrong people.
The #3 seeded University of Belize Black Jaguars, hailing from Capital City Belmopan, will tonight begin their quest for the 2006 semi-pro championship as they face-off against the #2 seeded Belize Bank Bulldogs in a best of three series.
This series will see two teams with contrasting styles going at it. Bulldogs versus Black Jaguars will be speed versus controlled tempo, fast-break versus half court, and quickness versus size.
While all may have seemed lost just one week ago following our performance in the 2006 COCABA Championship against regional powerhouses Mexico and Costa Rica, it appears that Belize will have one final shot at making the 2006 Centro Basket Tournament. According to reports we have received and our conversations with Belize Basketball Federation officials, it appears that as a result of the withdrawal of a CARICOM team from the 2006 Centro Basket, a void was created and it was agreed that the COCABA region?s bronze medal team will be given the opportunity to participate in the 2006 Centro Basket that will be played in Panama from July 4-8. And so the first leg of this qualifier will commence tomorrow night at the City Center when Belize hosts the visiting El Salvador team.
Village leaders present wish list, including bridge, to US Capital
US Capital Energy, which has a licence to explore for oil in over half a million acres of land in southern Belize, including the Sarstoon-Temash National Park, flew in a Mayan leader, Beatriz Bo Canelo, chairlady of Crique Sarco, to the media capital of the nation, Belize City, in an attempt to derail her fellow Mayan leader, Gregorio Ch?oc, who is fighting to have the company restricted from drilling in the park.
The semi-final games were scheduled for Sunday, May 28, 2006. But there was unfinished business in the Maya Mountain South division with 3 teams fighting for 2 spots. Yes, Friday night?s back match between Jah Roots F.C. and Real Sociedad was huge indeed.
A Belizean businessman told Amandala today that he and two friends have been victims of apparent institutionalized corruption in Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico.
This is his story. He went to Chetumal yesterday afternoon on a business trip, and before returning he and two male friends went to a bar for beer. He asked us not to use his name. He has been doing business there for about 30 years, he said, and does not want to provoke retribution by the police.
Between October 1998 and February 2000, 13-year-old Sherilee Nicholas, 12-year-old Jackie Malic, 9-year-old Jay Blades, 9-year-old Erica Wills, and 14-year-old Noemi Hernandez were kidnapped, sexually molested, tortured, and brutally murdered.
