The new Belize City Council this evening popped the lid off a can of worms ? a large can of worms. Mayor Zenaida Moya at her official swearing in reported that the Belize City Council is showing a deficit of around $9 million, and outgoing mayor, David Fonseca, is recorded as having $237,000 outstanding in salary advances.

The mayor?s budgeted salary, we are told, was $36,000 yearly, which means that he would have had to pay back the council his entire salary for six and a half years to repay the advance.

Amandala tonight received confirmation from a source, who chose not to go on record, that a report has been filed with the Eastern Division Police Station in Belize City against a bishop of Lucky Strike, Belize District, who is accused of having sexual relationships with several females, who were allegedly minors at the time but are now over the age of 18.

The report was made yesterday, our source said. He added that it was planned for the victims to come to Belize City to file reports today; however, the females are expected to make their reports tomorrow, instead.

Exactly two weeks before the nervously awaited budget of 2006/2007, the umbrella organization of trade unions in Belize?the National Trade Union Congress of Belize (NTUCB)?has undergone significant changes in its higher ranks.

The very vocal and outspoken Dylan Reneau was elected over the weekend to replace George Frazer, who has resigned as General Secretary of the NTUCB.

On Tuesday morning within a six-hour period the bodies of two Belize City men were discovered by police on the Northside of Belize. They were victims of fatal stabbing incidents. Because of the bodies? close proximity and the similarity in the way the two men died, police believe that their deaths are related.

Police are today seeking Edward Amado Gonzalez, 33, a businessman of Mile 19, Sand Hill Village, who was offered bail in his case for conspiracy to commit robbery but has not showed up at his scheduled court hearings.

On November 28, Gonzalez appeared in the Orange Walk Magistrate?s Court, which was his second court appearance, and was offered bail of $3,000 and a surety of the same amount. He had been on remand since his first court hearing on Monday, October 24.

Today, in a police press release, police said that they are seeking Mark Alamilla, 20, considering him as ?wanted,? to be charged with the murder of Lloyd ?Pappy? ?Sheep? Bodden Jr., 37, a self-employed mechanic who was shot and killed on February 15, 2005, while he was working under a car in front of his home at #29 Ebony Street.

Not only were the 2006 municipal elections a major landslide victory for the Opposition United Democratic Party (UDP), but it was also a significant personal victory for Belize City?s mayor elect, Zenaida Moya, who now goes down in our history books as the first woman mayor of the country?s main metropolis.

?I feel I will be a role model for our Belizean young women, and I want to do all that is possible, along with all female role models, to ensure that women get more opportunities,? she affirmed.

The people of Belize have spoken! The Opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) has taken 96%, or 64 of 67 available seats in the municipal elections held yesterday, Wednesday, March 1, in a bloodless battle between the two major political parties.

It was a devastating defeat for the ruling People?s United Party?one that some have characterized as a ?referendum vote,? marking what they claim is a stunning rejection of the Said Musa administration after a tumultuous year marked by an unprecedented spate of protests and demonstrations. Thousands of Belizeans wailed about burdensome taxes and the mismanagement of public funds amid continued allegations of corrupt multi-million-dollar deals by well-positioned politicians and their friends.

On Friday, February 24, a jury of 8 women and 4 men emerged from deliberations at almost 8:00 p.m., deadlocked in the trial of Jaime Dawson, charged with the murder of Morris Neal, 26, who was shot and killed whilst standing in front of Bismark Nightclub on Queen Charlotte Street on December 7, 2002.

The jury deliberated for almost four and a half hours before returning with the verdict, which set Dawson free.

Must repay SSB $4 million annually after three years

Tonight Anne Thompson, 32, is lying brain dead in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital after sustaining severe head and body injuries in a traffic accident on Tuesday, February 21.

In a press release issued today, police stated that Henry Lisbey, 68, of San Felipe, Cayo, reported to them that he was driving his Land Rover on Tuesday evening heading from Belmopan to San Ignacio, when upon reaching an area within Esperanza he heard a loud noise at the front of his vehicle and realized that he had hit someone.