High of 90 Low of 80 Slight with wave heights of 1 to 3 feet. Star Wars selfies The Force is in your photos B10 Happy Halloween Ghoulishly good times B11 Books Family Technology Lulo needs loving Lulo would like nothing better than a forever home. B6 ■ culture Harquail Celebrating 30 years B8 National Hero’s story Sybil McLaughlin’ s life, in print B3 Friday OctOber 30, 2015 • Cayman Compass We carry 5 quality brands with 20 models to choose from! Sleek modern scooters and motorcycles so you can have fun while looking good! FINANCING AVAILABLE Sales: 925-6686 170A Seymoure Dr, Industrial ParkParts & Repairs 929-7172info@centerlanemotors.ky www.centerlanemoto rs.ky Zongshen Z-One S $2,450 Daelim Roadwin R 125cc $3,950 Vespa S $3,750 Zongshen Prance 125cc $2,450 Dirt Bikes For Kids FROM $650 $1,250 FaceOff Heist 250cc $4,950 $2,750 Piaggio Fly Theatre Cayman weekender Harquail Theatre Editorial | pagE 4 Public liabilities: HealtH, Pensions, election Day eSTaBLISHed 1965 www.caymancompass.com – 75 CENTS – FriDay october 30, 2015 clifton Hunter High school: Valued at $20M less than building cost brent Fuller bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com Clifton Hunter High School has been valued at “at least” $20 million less than what it cost to build, Acting Auditor General Garnet Harrison confirmed Wednesday. The school is one of several government properties that was potentially overvalued in the recently completed audit of the govern- ment’s entire public sector financial state- ments for the 2013/14 budget year. The value discrepancies were one of the major reasons Mr. Harrison’s office gave the statements an “adverse” opinion – meaning the information they contain is unreliable. The school was built for $110.1 million, but the value was determined to be “impaired against the cost of construction” by at least $20 million, Mr. Harrison said. In accounting terms, that means the esti- mated value of the Clifton Hunter property is $90 million, or potentially even less. Ministry of Education officials are cur- rently reviewing valuation reports and will update government’s financial statements once the decline in the school property’s value has been quantified. Sources in government informed the Compass that the ministry was having a second valuation on the school property done, prior to updating the financial statements. The final cost of the high school construction went about $41.4 million higher than the auditor gener- al’s office estimates of government’s planned spending on the project dating from May 2008. Those additional costs beyond what was initially planned for the school included: ■■ An architectural design contract that went $3.7 million above planned costs ■■ Another $1.7 million was spent for min- istry-ordered design changes in July 2012 ■■ A new project manager contract, not ‘Not practical’ to keep addiNg Mlas brent Fuller bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com Although it recommended the addition of a 19th elected representative in the Cayman Islands Legislative Assembly, the 2015 Electoral Boundary Commission cautioned lawmakers against a continued increase in the number of assembly members. In a lengthy report outlining the bound- aries of the 19 single-member voting dis- tricts created under Cayman’s new one man, one vote system, the three-person commis- sion suggested that a limit be placed on the number of elected members. “It is not practical to continue to add members to the Legislative Assembly as the number of persons qualified to be registered to vote in the Cayman Islands increases,” the commission’s report stated. “This is a matter that the Legislative Assembly will have to ad- dress at some point in the future. “For example, they may wish to place a cap on the number of members … as some coun- tries have done.” Increasing the number of elected MLAs was a sore point for some supporters of the one man, one vote, single-member constituen- cies voting system. However, it was largely as- sented to by North Side MLA Ezzard Miller, who led the charge for the electoral change. “[The additional seat] is the price I will pay … for one man, one vote,” Mr. Miller said. “I am supportive because it’s long overdue,” said businessman Derrington “Bo” Miller, a founding member of the one man, one vote committee. “But I don’t think we Kelsey JuKaM kjukam@pinnaclemedialtd.com Just when it seemed as if the sargassum that has been plaguing Cayman’s shore- line might be clearing up, another mat of the dense reddish-brown seaweed has washed ashore. This time it has hit South Sound, as a new wave washed in overnight, and it continues to affect many other parts of the island. Kayaking guides with Surfside Aquasports, which launches its kayaks from South Sound, said the seaweed has been plentiful for the past few days, but they were shocked to see how much had washed in Thursday morning. The company is operating as usual, as the seaweed does not affect the boats, however some tour- ists are not too keen on wading through the seaweed to get in the kayaks. Sargassum is not harmful to hu- mans and many species of sea creature thrive in the mats. Nevertheless, the enormous quantities Seaweed still clogging Cayman beaches PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 10 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 10 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 10 » Sargassum seaweed blankets the shoreline Thursday morning at the Red Bay dock area on South Sound. - pHoto: taNeos raMsaY2 OBITUARY Friday OctOber 30, 2015 • Cayman Compass 345-945-4411 info@cirealty.ky caymanislandsrealty.com North Coast 1.5acres, app. 300ft of beachfront up to 240ft deep Zoned Beach Resort / Residential US$658,000 Member CIREBA MLS#405056 BEACHFRONT ! West Shore Center, Seven Mile Beach Open daily 10am-10pm • 945.2290 THANK YOU to All of Our Loyal Customers 22nd Anniversary15th Anniversary for our years of success and we look forward to providing you with continued quality that you expect and deserve. From the Staff & Management Marquee Plaza, Seven Mile Beach • 947.2782 Mon-Fri 7:30am-10pm • Sat & Sun 7am-10pm EAT IN! TAKE OUT! 1920-2015 George Richardson Proctor The author of the sem- inal book which has pro- vided an invaluable resource on Cayman’s plant life has passed away. American Botanist George Richardson Proctor died on Oct. 12 in New York. He was 95. Mr. Proctor was a world authority on the flora of Jamaica, where he had lived since 1949, and best known in Cayman as author of the “Flora of the Cayman Islands,” originally published in 1984. Born in Boston, he studied for his Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania after the Second World War. Reduced funding at this time led him to take up work as a her- barium assistant at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia in 1946. In 1948, a defining event occurred when he was ap- pointed botanist with the Catherwood-Chaplin West Indies Expedition, which took him to Cuba, the Cayman Islands, San Andres y Providencia and mainland Colombia. This experience, plus his early inspiration at the hands of W.R. Maxon of the Smithsonian Institution, who published the young pteridologist’s articles in the American Fern Journal, de- cided the botanical inter- ests that Mr. Proctor would pursue for the rest of his life in the Caribbean. Mr. Maxon had left an un- finished book on the ferns of Jamaica and, after his Caribbean expedition, Mr. Proctor (known as Dick) moved to Jamaica in 1949 to begin two year’s work on the island’s ferns. Mr. Proctor’s move was also influenced by his memory of shovelling snow in his native Boston one winter, where he vowed as a boy of 13 that he would live in the tropics one day. Starting in 1951, he went on to work at the Institute of Jamaica for 29 years, where he was responsible for de- veloping the herbarium and served as head of the Natural History Division. In 1983, he became her- barium supervisor at the National Botanic Garden in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and from 1983- 1998 was employed in Puerto Rico as a biologist and di- rector of the herbarium at the government’s Department of Natural and Environmental Resources, San Juan. He re- mained a consultant botanist at the University of the West Indies in Jamaica. One of the four leaders in the field of Caribbean tax- onomy, along with Enrique Liogier, Richard B. Howard and C. Dennis Adams, Mr. Proctor studied the flora of more than 50 Caribbean is- lands and collected more than 55,000 specimens from the West Indies and Central and South America. Among his publications are the “Flora of Barbados” (1958), co- authored with E.G.B. Gooding and A.R. Loveless, “Flowering Plants of Jamaica” (1972), co- authored with C.D. Adams and R.W. Read, “Flora of the Cayman Islands” (1984), “Ferns of Jamaica” (1985) and “Ferns of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands” (1989). In the 1990s, he also prepared a treatment of the monocotyledons of Puerto Rico. Nearly 30 plants are named after Mr. Proctor, in- cluding the national tree of the Cayman Islands, Coccothrinax proctorii. He was awarded the Musgrave Gold Medal and the Order of Distinction in Jamaica in 1976 for his ded- icated work, and in 2004 re- ceived an honorary doc- torate from the University of the West Indies, to add to his 1978 honorary doctorate from Florida International University. In 2006, at the age of 86, Proctor was embroiled in a scandal when a case was brought against him al- leging his involvement in a conspiracy to murder his wife and three other people. He was arrested as he was boarding an airplane bound for the U.S., and was held for a month before he was freed on bail in May 2006. After four years of court ap- pearances and continua- tions, the trial finally took place in January 2010, and Mr. Proctor was convicted on four counts of conspiracy to commit murder. On Feb. 3, 2010, he was sentenced to four years imprisonment on each count, to be served con- currently. In October 2012, he was released from prison due to ill health having served two years and seven months of his sentence, and deported to New York. Mr. Proctor completed the second edition of the “Flora of the Cayman Islands” during his incarcera- tion, and it was published in October 2012. Grand Cayman resi- dent and botany enthusiast Joanne Mercille-Ross bought what was likely the last copy of the first edition of Mr. Proctor’s book. She was in- strumental in bringing Mr. Proctor to Grand Cayman when she noticed that the first edition required some corrections and updates, and came to know him well. She said he “loved life and all that it encompassed, he lived it with flair and in the present with little care for the future, he was what you would call a “bon vivant. “He was also a giving man,” she said, “his love of plants was infectious, he gave to botany immensely; there are so many plants that would not be known if it was not for his dedication and love for his field of study. He mentored so many students; he wanted everyone to share his knowledge and enthu- siasm of botany by making it come to life with his story telling style and funny anec- dotes on their botanical fami- lies, ending it with a childish little giggle to any interested person. His legacy to science is without equal, he will be missed by all of his friends around the world.” Naturalist Ann Stafford praised Mr. Proctor’s work in cataloging Cayman’s plants in his book. “Many new re- cords found since 1984 and several previously unde- scribed species were included in the 2012 book, illustrated with color photographs as well as the original black and white drawings, to satisfy the needs of the professional botanist while providing the non-expert and eco-traveler with a field guide,” she said. Twenty-eight species and varieties of plants are considered to be endemic meaning that they evolved in the Cayman Islands. One of these is Casearia staffordiae, Cayman Casearia, Family Salicaeae, which Mr. Proctor named after Ms. Stafford when she discovered it by chance in 2001. Speaking of the book, she noted, “It is a lasting legacy and great asset for the con- servation of Cayman’s native plants and Proctor will be well-remembered in Cayman. I am grateful for having been taught so much by him.” Mr. Proctor is buried in his family plot at Mount Auburn Cemetery, Massachusetts. He is survived by five children, 30 grandchildren and five great grandchildren. George Proctor, pictured on the Mastic Trail in 2004, with his vasculum, a botanical box used for holding field samples.The islands’ most-trusted news source 3 Cayman Compass • Friday OctOber 30, 2015 say hello to Flow TVThe islands’ most-trusted news source 4 – EDITORIAL – Opinion&Letters The Cayman Compass welcomes comments, opinions and viewpoints from readers. Letters to the editor can be emailed to editor@pinnaclemedialtd.com, submitted via www.caymancompass.com, sent by post or hand-delivered to the Compass office. Friday OCTOber 30, 2015 • Cayman COmpass The first step to addressing a problem is admitting the problem exists. According to that standard, the Cayman Islands government has a serious problem. Over the next 20-25 years, the government will owe $1.4 billion in pension and healthcare payments to retiring civil servants — an ominous figure that nevertheless remains unacknowledged in government’s budget plans. That’s $1.4 billion … with a capital “B.” (Written out numerically, that’s 1,400,000,000 dollars.) In purely financial terms, the $1.4 billion in government’s pension and healthcare liabilities is equivalent to Cayman’s entire economic output for a six-month period. To place that figure into physical perspective, a stack of 1.4 billion one-dollar bills would reach into the sky some 95 miles high. If you were to lay 1.4 billion one-dollar bills, end-to-end, in a straight line, it would measure 135,660 miles — long enough to circle the Earth nearly five-and-a-half times. In other words, it’s a tremendous amount of money. The solution to Cayman’s looming liabilities won’t be achieved merely by deducting those 10 digits from the government’s bottom line. Acknowledging the upcoming expenditure is simply Step One. The dif- ficulty is in paying for it — as municipalities such as Detroit and countries such as Greece have learned through hard experience. “People’s healthcare when they retire, pension obli- gations down the road, you have to be able to fund it,” Acting Auditor General Garnet Harrison said. Some might surmise that government officials are engaging in “willful disbelief” by not including future liabilities in their fiscal calculations. In other words, “We don’t have to pay the bill because we haven’t seen the tab yet.” We suspect, rather, that officials are operating according to different motivations. Our leaders cannot possibly be ignorant of the financial ramifications of civil servants’ pensions and healthcare plans. However, they also must be acutely aware of the political conse- quences of any attempts to wean the civil service from their accustomed flow of government benefits. The government offers its current and former employees free healthcare — with no pesky co-pays, deductibles or monthly premiums. Civil servants, active or retired, who require treatment overseas also receive free accommodations and airfare. (When we use the word “free,” what we mean is that it’s at “no charge” to the civil servants. These benefits and services aren’t actually “free” at all … They, of course, are being paid for by the taxpaying populace.) The political calculus is simpler, and more imme- diate in terms of time, than the actuarial arithmetic. The entire public sector (including central government, statutory authorities and government-owned compa- nies) employs more than 5,800 people. Of those civil servants, about 4,400 are Caymanian. At last count, there were about 18,300 registered voters in Cayman, and perhaps more than 24,000 eligible voters in all. Assuming all the Caymanians employed in the public sector are eligible and registered to vote, civil servants would account for 24 percent of registered voters, and 18 percent of all eligible voters. If they cast their ballots en bloc, that’s more than enough to influence significantly the outcome of any polit- ical campaign. Multiply those numbers to account for spouses, dependents and close relatives, and there’s your election, right there. This spring, Finance Minister Marco Archer announced that officials would postpone any changes to the government’s health plan offerings until after the May 2017 general election. If the timing of that practical decision was influenced at all by the timing of the political season, it is, at best, a cynical performance. Whatever the motivation, the delay means the current iteration of Cayman’s elected government will be able to avoid the consequences of reining in runaway public sector healthcare spending. That, of course, will be of small comfort to everyone else when the day of fiscal reckoning arrives. Public liabilities: Health, pensions, Election Day Printed and Published by: Caymanian Compass Limited (a subsidiary of Pinnacle Media Ltd) Compass Centre Shedden Road, George Town send us yOur VieWs Or neWs: P.O. Box 1365 Grand Cayman KY1-1108, Cayman Islands Telephone: (345) 815-0095 Email: newsdesk@pinnaclemedialtd.com adVertise With us: Telephone: (345) 949-5111 Email: sales@pinnaclemedialtd.com Website: www.caymancompass.com PUBLISHERS daVid r. legge and Vicki l. legge EdITOR-In-CHIEf daVid r. legge A MEMBER OF THE INTER-AMERICAN PRESS ASSOCIATION “Give light and the people will find their own way” The political reality of fantasy sports WASHINGTON – Americans have been betting on sports since the first time a Puritan pilgrim boasted that his horse was the fastest in Massachusetts Bay Colony and another said, “Wanna bet?” But fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly and government gotta fret about gambling on fantasy sports. Torrential television ad- vertising by DraftKings and FanDuel is creating millions of customers for these sports fantasy businesses, thereby creating government anxiety lest Americans make unregu- lated choices inimical to their material and moral well-being. In today’s decidedly un-pu- ritanical America, betting on sports is illegal, except where it is not (Nevada, Oregon, Montana, Delaware). Besides, much more money is wa- gered illegally on sports than in legal casinos. Someday the number of Americans who bet on the Super Bowl will be approximately equal to the number of Americans. In 2006, a year after an es- timated 15 million Americans wagered US$6 billion on- line, Congress, evidently con- vinced that Prohibition was a resounding success at rid- ding the nation of Demon Rum, launched Prohibition 2.0. Congress enacted a pro- hibition of Internet gambling, making it illegal for banks or credit-card companies to pro- cess payments to online gam- bling operations. Mother-hen government said such gam- bling was already illegal under the Wire Act, passed in 1961, before there was an Internet. But this law, which has predictably failed to stop Internet gambling, exempted fantasy sports, which were not then considered a serious commercial opportunity. When government action restricts Americans’ choices, ostensibly for their own good, the paternalism usually has a pecuniary motive. America’s principal promoters of gam- bling are the 48 states with some form of legalized bet- ting, including 44 that have gambling-addiction problems: They are addicted to reve- nues from their lotteries and resent fantasy sports games poaching “their” gamblers. Players in fantasy sports assemble make-believe teams from actual athletes – most commonly, NFL athletes – and the teams succeed or fail based on the players’ achieve- ments on a given day. This is obviously gambling: Players risk money wagering on vari- ables – individual athletes’ performances – beyond the players’ control. It is, however, gambling leavened by skill: Players can improve their odds by acquiring advantageous in- formation – by studying ath- letes’ performances more as- siduously than those they are playing against. One supposed problem is this: In fantasy sports, as in real sports and the rest of life, some people excel, usually because they work harder than others. Justin Van Zuiden, writing in Sports Illustrated, says that “so far this year I’ve made more money – the low six figures as of last weekend – from fantasy sports than from my CPA job.” He is good with numbers. Life is unfair. DraftKings’ advertise- ments promise “a new fan- tasy millionaire every week” and the company says it will disburse US$1 billion in win- nings this year. FanDuel says its patrons win US$75 mil- lion a week and might receive US$2 billion this year. The stakes increase with the entry fee, which can be as low as free and more than US$5,000. Major League Baseball, the National Football League, the National Basketball Association, NBC Sports, Fox Networks Group and other entities see not only invest- ment opportunities but ways to deepen fans’ interests in professional sports. Not for the first time, the law is a lagging indicator of where society is going without asking the government’s by- your-leave. What technology – the Internet – makes possible (a multitude of fantasy games and instantaneous payouts), enough determined people will do until the laws pro- scribing it become too embar- rassing to enforce. The fantasy sports in- dustry already has a trade association. The industry will need it. When politicians say the industry is unregu- lated, they mean it is not su- pervised by them. It is, how- ever, sternly regulated by market forces, as the fierce DraftKings/FanDuel compe- tition indicates. Another in- dication is the speed with which both reacted to a re- cent mini-not-really scandal: When a DraftKings employee won US$350,000 playing on FanDuel, both businesses in- stantly moved to prevent the equivalent of “insider trading” – players utilizing special ac- cess to pertinent information. According to ESPN The Magazine, “The FBI estimates that US$2.6 billion was wa- gered illegally in 2013 on March Madness [the NCAA basketball tournament] alone; pro gamblers would bet it’s 10 times that.” The law will ac- commodate all sorts of sports gambling not when govern- ment becomes a friend of liberty by allowing victim- less pleasures, but when gov- ernment recognizes in fan- tasy sports something it loves more than liberty: something to regulate and tax. George Will’s email address is georgewill@washpost.com. © 2015, Washington Post Writers Group GEORGE F. WILLThe islands’ most-trusted news source 5 Cayman Compass • Friday OctOber 30, 2015 6 LOCAL NEWS Friday OctOber 30, 2015 • Cayman Compass Special thanks to EY for sponsoring the live television broadcast of UCCI’s 2015 Commencement Ceremony on Island 24 on Thursday, 29th October. The Board of Governors, President, Faculty & Staff of the University College of the Cayman Islands offer their warmest congratulations to you, the Class of 2015, for achieving an important milestone in your academic journey. May you be inspired to reach for loftier goals and keep on the path of excellence. T: (345) 623-UCCI (8224) F: (345) 949-6781 W: www.ucci.edu.ky Cayman’s breast cancer survivors form support group Twenty-five women and men attend the launch of the group at Government House KELSEY JUKAM kjukam@pinnaclemedialtd.com A breast cancer diag- nosis can be terrifying and isolating, survivors of the disease say. That is why a group of survivors, with the support of Governor Helen Kilpatrick, has formed a sup- port group so that women and men can come together to share their experiences, and let others know they are not alone. On Wednesday evening, the first meeting of a new support group for breast cancer survivors was held at the governor’s residence on Seven Mile Beach. Twenty-five women and men whose lives have been directly affected by the dis- ease, shared their stories during what some described as an emotional, but up- lifting, evening. “No friends, no husband, no one knows what you’re going through like another survivor,” Irma Arch said. Ms. Arch and a group of her friends who had also been diagnosed with breast cancer formed a small sup- port group in 1996, but as members succumbed to the disease over the years, she said, “we kind of lost focus.” “However, with every- thing that is going on now … it’s become obvious it’s a real need among the people, and so I’m coming back now to start the support group,” she said. Ms. Arch will lead the support group, which she ex- pects to meet monthly, and she hopes that more men and women who have been af- fected by the disease will at- tend future meetings. The idea to form the new support group came from conversations held at an event hosted by Dart for breast cancer survivors in September. “We realized that people, people need this,” Breast Cancer Foundation Chief Administrator Heather McLaughlin said. “More and more people in Cayman are talking about their experi- ence, they’re not as confiden- tial as they used to be.” Governor Kilpatrick, who attended the September event, suggested that the first meeting be held at Government House. “I thought it would be a good opportunity for people to have their first meeting here, and maybe having it at the governor’s house would encourage them to come along,” Governor Kilpatrick said. “I think that once people make the connection and get to know each other, they’ll want to carry on with the group.” Governor Kilpatrick said that she tries to do what she can to support cancer survivors. “I think we all know somebody who has had breast cancer,” she said. “It’s a disease that touches every family, really.” Facing same struggles Breast Cancer Foundation Director Kim Lund said that the governor’s sup- port has made a “huge dif- ference” to all those grap- pling with breast cancer. He said it is important to have a support group, be- cause it helps people realize that many people have the same struggles. “By talking about it and learning that you’re not alone in this battle, it gives you strength, and it gives you solace in the fact that there are others around you … there to help you,” Mr. Lund said. “They know what you’re going through, be- cause they’re going through it themselves.” Some who attended the support group won their battle with cancer many years ago, while some were only recently diagnosed. “We have on young lady here now, who was only di- agnosed a few weeks OK … we thought it might be too early, but she said she is so happy she came,” Ms. McLaughlin said. “She finds it wonderful, because she sees that we’re all happy and healthy and getting on with life. It’s brilliant.” Uplifting Janette Fitzgerald, who works for the Breast Cancer Foundation and is a sur- vivor herself, said everyone in the support group was very open, and that there was no shortage of survivors offering to help others. “It’s a terrifying diagnosis, but it’s so uplifting here,” Ms. Fitzgerald said. Governor Helen Kilpatrick, front, second from left, with members of the newly formed breast cancer support group at Government House on Wednesday evening. - PHOTO: KELSEY JUKaM Twenty-five women and men whose lives have been directly affected by the disease, shared their stories during what some described as an emotional, but uplifting, evening.The islands’ most-trusted news source 7 Cayman Compass • Friday OctOber 30, 2015 say hello to your new iPhone 6S With 3D Touch, Live Photos, 7000 series aluminum, A9 chip, advanced cameras, 4.7-inch Retina HD display and so much more; you’ll see how with iPhone 6s the only thing that’s changed is everything. discoverflow.ky $399 from8 LOCAL NEWS Friday OctOber 30, 2015 • Cayman Compass We have been asked to announce the passing of Mr. Oswald Eden Ebanks affectionately known as “Ossie” who passed away on Wednesday October 21st, 2015. A Service of Thanksgiving will be held on Saturday, October 31st, 2015 at the Church of God Full Gospel Hall, West Bay at 10:30am. (next to Alfresco’s Restaurant). Viewing will be from 9:30 to 10:15am. Interment to follow at Northwest Point Cemetery. Condolences can be registered at churchillsfuneralhome.com We have been asked to announce the passing of Mr. Oswald Eden Ebanks affectionately known as “Ossie” who passed away on Wednesday October 21st, 2015. A Service of Thanksgiving will be held on Saturday, October 31st, 2015 at the Church of God Full Gospel Hall, West Bay at 10:30am. (next to Alfresco’s Restaurant). Viewing will be from 9:30 to 10:15am. Interment to follow at Northwest Point Cemetery. Condolences can be registered at churchillsfuneralhome.com who passed away on Wednesday October 21st, 2015. Saturday, October 31st, 2015 at the Church of God Full Gospel We have been asked to announce the passing of Ms. Laurel Lena Dawn Mellad who passed away on Thursday, October 15th 2015. A Service of Thanksgiving will be held Sunday November 1st, 2015 at Savannah Seventh Day Adventist Church (next to Savannah Primary School) at 3:00 p.m. Viewing will be from 2:00 to 2:45 p.m. Interment to follow at Prospect Cemetery. Condolences can be registered at www.churchillsfuneralhome.com We have been asked to announce the passing of Ms. Laurel Lena Dawn Mellad who passed away on Thursday, October 15th 2015. A Service of Thanksgiving will be held Sunday November 1st, 2015 at Savannah Seventh Day Adventist Church (next to Savannah Primary School) at 3:00 p.m. Viewing will be from 2:00 to 2:45 p.m. Interment to follow at Prospect Cemetery. Condolences can be registered at www.churchillsfuneralhome.comCondolences can be registered at www.churchillsfuneralhome.comCondolences can be registered at We have been asked to announce the passing of We have been asked to announce the passing of Mr. Edward Winston Myles affectionately known as “The Peppermint Man” who passed away on Saturday October 17th, 2015. A Service of Thanksgiving will be held on Saturday October 31st, 2015 at the Elmslie Memorial United Church in George Town at 10:00am. Viewing from 9:00 to 9:45am. Interment to follow at the Prospect Cemetery. Condolences can be registered at churchillsfuneralhome.com Northward’s got talent James Whittaker jwhittaker@pinnaclemedialtd.com The pews in the prison chapel fall silent when Devon Anglin takes the stage, in front of the life-size mural of Christ and, with a shy smile, launches into an intense rap tune of his own composition. Bravo wing goes wild. “In my life I’m kind of having some prob- lems,” he raps with some understatement. Anglin is serving a life sentence for the 2009 night- club slaying of Carlo Webster. Next up at the prison’s talent expo is Christopher Myles, one of four men who robbed Diamonds International jewelry store, on New Year’s Day, 2014. Now he’s rapping about literacy. One of his accomplices on that day, James McLean, has already performed his own composition. Later, a prison band fea- turing musicians convicted of sex offenses, burglary and drug smuggling belts out a note-perfect rendition of the reggae-pop hit of the summer, “Cheerleader.” It’s a little surreal. It’s in- credibly entertaining. It is also evident that there is plenty of talent behind the concrete walls and razor wire fences of HMP Northward. “Not a lot of persons be- lieve in rehabilitation,” says Michelle Dennis-Powell, the prison’s literacy coordinator and organizer of last Friday’s event. “Some persons believe lock them down and give them a little injection.” She sees it differently. Ms. Dennis-Powell teaches reading, writing, art and music to the residents of Northward. “The reality is that they are coming back in society. How can we face it, how can we make them a better person so when they go out there I’m not afraid, you’re not afraid?” In the pews at Friday’s talent expo are a number of familiar faces from high- profile court cases – the Diamonds International rob- bers, the Romanian card skimming gang, the accoun- tant who scammed Solomon Harris law firm. Ms. Dennis-Powell says she does not think about why they are here. “They need to under- stand they have committed a crime and there are con- sequences for that, but it is not my job to punish them,” she said. “The judge did her job, my job is to rehabilitate, to transform.” For some prisoners, that means teaching them to read and write and giving them the practical and functional skills that will help them get a job when they are released. For others it is about un- covering hidden talent. The Painter Brian Borden had not picked up a paint brush be- fore he walked into HMP Northward. Last week he sold one of his compositions for $100. Not enough to feed his family but still, to borrow another line from Devon Anglin’s song, it’s “a dollar that’s honest.” The Court of Appeal will look again, in November, at Borden’s conviction for the shooting of Robert Macford Bush – the murder that started the tit-for-tat shooting spree in Grand Cayman in 2011 that remains the bloodiest period in the is- land’s history. Borden strongly maintains his innocence. He was so con- fident he would not be con- victed of the killing that he married his fiancée while on remand, prior to the conclu- sion of his trial last August. He says he hopes to be back in his yard by Christmas. But Borden, who acknowledges he has not al- ways been on the right side of the law, says prison has changed him. “I can’t just walk through the door and back into the same life,” he said. The Poet For Leighton Rankine, po- etry is a creative and emo- tional outlet. The winner of the 2014 talent expo, he is constantly scribbling in his notepad and sends poems to his kids as presents. Rankine is not due for re- lease until 2020 after being convicted of shooting and injuring two people out- side the Club 7 nightclub in February, 2012. He was kicked in the head with steel-toe boots during the altercation and says he has no recollection of the shooting. Rankine, 39, admits he sold drugs in the past. He says he had to fend for him- self as a teenager after his mother moved to Colombia. It seemed more honest, to him, at the time, to sell drugs, than to steal. It’s not some- thing that he plans to go back to, he says. He is determined to use his time inside productively and hopes, one day, to publish an anthology of his poems. “I am trying to keep my- self and my mind occupied on positive things. Poetry is something I use to express my feelings, any time I feel certain ways I just sit down and write. Anything that I can do in prison to better myself when I get out, I am willing to do.” A taste of freedom The inmates assembled in the chapel for Friday’s talent expo all wear the same prison garb, blue trousers and shirts, or a white Literacy Day T-shirt. Efforts at indi- viduality in the face of uni- formity emerge in the array of bandanas, sunglasses and jewelry on display. There is a similar asser- tion in the poetry, art, writing and music of the inmates. Norman McLaughlin, serving a stint for burglary, leads the prison band in a note-perfect rendition of ‘Cheerleader’ by OMI. Rennie Cole, one of the men convicted of the CNB robbery, performs gospel songs. – PHOTOs: JAMEs WHITTAKER Michael Levitt, sentenced to seven-and-a-half years for theft from Solomon Harris law firm, reads a poem at the event. – PHOTO: TANEOs RAMsAY Devon Anglin penned his own song for the event. Chirstopher Myles performs his own rap tunes. – PHOTO: TANEOs RAMsAY PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 9 »9 LOCAL NEWS Cayman Compass • Friday OctOber 30, 2015 In Loving Memory of my Beloved Mother Wosila Rochester 10 May 1945 -29 October 2012 No one knows how much I miss you, No one knows the bitter pain I have suffered since I lost you, Life has never been the same. In my heart your memory lingers, Sweetly, tender, fond and true. There is not a day, dearest Mom, That I do not think of you. My love always, Your Daughter, Michele IN LOVING MEMORY OF OUR MOTHER, GRANDMOTHER, GREAT GRANDMOTHER AND FRIEND CYNTHIA (CHRISTIAN) BERKENBOS January 15, 1915 – November 1, 2007 On November fi rst, two thousand seven, A brand new angel entered heaven. Her smile lit up the skies above, And radiated our Lord's love. God took her hand and she felt peace, As all her troubles were released. Her earthly body was replaced But God kept her angelic face. Now eight years later she's still blessed, With God's love and tenderness. She had left loved ones behind, Whom she knew missed her all the time. But even from her heavenly home, She lets them feel they're not alone. She'd shared with them ninety two years, And she had left them all in tears, But in her hundredth year she still, Lives in their hearts and always will. This loving angel is no other, Than our friend, Grandma, and Mother. SO SADLY MISSED BUT ALWAYS IN OUR HEARTS Your Children: Eugene, Dudley, Clive, Barbara,Isabel, Molly, Marion Sons and daughters-in-law Grandchildren and Great grandchildren, REST IN PEACE FOREVER IN GOD’S LOVING CARE On November fi rst, two thousand seven,On November fi rst, two thousand seven,On November fi rst, two thousand seven,On November fi rst, two thousand seven, God took her hand and she felt peace,God took her hand and she felt peace, On November fi rst, two thousand seven,On November fi rst, two thousand seven, We regret to announce the passing of James Elliott Who departed this life On Thursday, 22 October 2015. Condolences can be registered at www.boddenfuneralservices.com Mr. Elliott will be repatriated to the USA There is a form of freedom in the exercise of the imagination. “We do it because we find ourselves pretty much bored and we got long sentences,” says Sherlock Bodden, who has a portfolio of framed paintings that would not look out of place in the gallery of Cayman’s famous marine artist Guy Harvey. “It helps me get through it. I sit down in my cell block and people don’t bother me,” says Bodden, who is coming to the end of a long stretch for attempted murder and will be up for parole next year. Like his cousin, Brian Borden, he did not realize he could paint till he went to prison. He has sold dozens of his works, mostly sea crea- tures and nature scenes, and hopes to earn some money from painting and carpentry when he is released. The Writer Sheldon Brown, one of Northward’s more famous inmates, now the author of five books, has been behind bars for more than a decade. It might turn out to be the best thing that has ever hap- pened to him. Brown has focused his intense energy on writing, working in his cell until the early hours of the morning on his thrillers, aiming to be the next John Grisham or Dan Brown. Through his charac- ters, he has journeyed way be- yond the walls of Northward and into the worlds of global terrorism and counterfeit pharmaceuticals. “Some people say you’ve been here 10 years and you are happy every day, how do you do it?” he said. “I tell them believing in God, being strong and being focused. If I wasn’t focused on something that could be pro- ductive in the future, maybe I wouldn’t be that calm or happy as I am every day.” Brown now runs a creative writing class at the prison and is mentoring other in- mates. He tells them, first and foremost, to preach a posi- tive message, even when they write about crime. He was a writer on the outside, but says no one took him seriously. The opportuni- ties did not come till he devel- oped his talent behind bars. Brown is serving a 22- year sentence for attempted murder after being con- victed of the 2004 shooting of James Fernando Martin at the Cayman Islander Hotel. “I didn’t commit the crime and the whole world knows it,” he said. “But I must say I am glad that I am here because if I wasn’t, I’m not sure I’d be writing and I’m not sure I would have put crime down. “I’d been trying before I came here but it was difficult.” Brown, watching the talent show from the back row of the chapel, acknowledges that not everyone is comfort- able with the idea of pris- oners performing, maybe even having fun. “You have to give an in- mate the chance to move ahead,” he says. “Being here is a negative environment in the first place. If you don’t get an outlet to be creative, to im- prove yourself, when you get out, you go back to the same thing you know. “Because of my writing I feel like I have a future. Life is worth living.” A few years ago, he says, the prison was a more neg- ative place. Now inmates are more focused on trans- forming their lives, instead of smoking ganja. Transformation The balance between of- fering prisoners genuine opportunities to reform and the public’s desire for a tough approach to crime is a difficult one for prison officials. Kathryn Dinspell-Powell, deputy chief officer in the Ministry of Home Affairs, said it had been proven that imprisonment alone was in- effective and actually leads to increased re-offending rates. She said prisoners needed purposeful activity aimed at giving them educa- tion and employment skills to transform their outlook on life. If anything, she says, the prison could be doing more. “Unfortunately, due to shortages in staffing and other resources,” she said, “the prison service is not currently able to meet the level of needs of incarcerated offenders across the board.” She said the ministry was working with volun- teers and advocating for more resources for restor- ative justice programs. For Ms. Dennis-Powell, strong rehabilitation programs mean a safer community for everyone. Prisoners who return to society with new skills, talent and interests are less likely to come back. Ms. Dennis-Powell says it is important to try to see the person behind the crimes, to remove the labels and to bring the best out of them. Gangster: novelist; robber: rapper; killer: artist, prisoner: poet. Prison, she says, can transform lives. Phillip Rose entertains with his comedy dancing and skills on the trumpet. – PHOTOs: JAMEs WHITTAKER Brian Borden, left, and his cousin Sherlock Bodden display some of their artwork at the prison. Northward’s got talent CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8 Lynburn Myles, left, and Brian Rankine perform Jahcure’s ‘Behind These Prison Walls.’ - PHOTO: TANEOs RAMsAY Travis Ebanks gives a wholehearted performance during the talent expo.Next >