A photo and story on the front page of the 29 Aug. 1974 issue of The Caymanian Compass announced the arrival of Thomas Russell ahead of being sworn in as governor of the Cayman Islands. On hand to greet him and his wife were the chief secretary and commissioner of police, who escorted the couple to the airport’s VIP lounge where they met members of the then Legislative Assembly and other dignitaries. Russell was to be sworn in later that day, with a 17-gun salute following the ceremony.
Next to that story was an item about burglaries in George Town. The article began with: “Four more break-ins, one of them major, occurred during the past week,” adding that police were offering a $200 reward for information leading to the conviction of the criminals. The largest incident of the four involved Innis McTaggart’s Cayman Optical and Photo on Edward Street from which was taken about $550 in cash and $1,500 worth of goods, including 16 Timex watches – four $80 quartz models – gold pens and cameras. It was reported that police were “extremely concerned about this rash of break-ins” that totalled nine in the previous two weeks.
On page 3, a photo of Sybil McLaughlin, clerk of the Legislative Assembly and future National Hero, and UK official, Kenneth Bradshaw, accompanied the news that the Standing Orders of the House were being revised with Bradshaw’s help. He explained the update and revisions were necessary to the current Standing Orders – which came into effect in 1959 – in accordance with the 1972 Constitution.
The formal signing of a new port agreement dominated page 7 of the newspaper, following on from Cayport Consultants being awarded the contract to provide consulting engineering services for the design of the new port facility. Cayport was chosen over seven other submissions from member countries of the Caribbean Development Bank.
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