ESTABLISHED 1965 www.caymancompass.com – 50 CENTS – THURSDAY OCTOBER 5, 2017 High of 87 Low of 76 Moderate with wave heights of 3 to 5 feet. EDITORIAL | PAGE 4 BEACH BEHAVIOR: DRAWING A LINE IN THE SAND WORLD & REGIONAL | PAGE 13 EU: AMAZON MUST PAY $295M IN BACK TAXES Road User Our comprehensive cover is now even more generous. Free roadside assistance comes with your comprehensive insurance from BritCay. Pay up to 15% less for comprehensive insurance and claim a 10% discount if you have BritCay home insurance. Deductibles from $200 for no additional premium. Zero deductible windscreen cover too! Ask for a Road User quote! Call 949-8699 www.britcay.ky cgigrp BRITISH CAYMANIAN INSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED BritCay House, 236 Eastern Avenue, George Town, P.O. Box 74, KY1-1102 Tel. 949-8699 www.britcay.ky A member of Colonial Group International Ltd. : insurance, health, pensions, life TROPICAL STORM NATE EXPECTED TO FORM, MAY IMPACT CAYMAN KAYLA YOUNG kyoung@pinnaclemedialtd.com A tropical depression east of Nicaragua was forecast to intensify over coming days, as the system moved northwest toward the Gulf Coast. The storm path was not projected to hit the Cayman Islands. The outer cone of trop- ical storm force winds, however, could af- fect the islands by Thursday evening or Friday morning. The Cayman Islands National Weather Ser- vice advised that the storm poses no imme- diate risk to the islands, but urged residents to follow weather updates in local media. Forecast models Wednesday showed Trop- ical Depression 16 moving northwest at 7 miles per hour. It was expected to hit the coast of Nicaragua early Thursday before moving north toward eastern Honduras and emerging over the northwestern Caribbean Sea on Friday. The depression, if upgraded to a storm, would be named Nate. The system was expected to bring 15 to 20 inches of rain and tropical storm condi- tions to portions of Nicaragua and Honduras through Thursday. Maximum rainfall could reach 30 inches in isolated areas. Costa Rica and Panama were expected to receive 2 to 5 inches of rain. Areas forecast to receive heavy rains are at risk of life-threatening flash floods and mudslides. A Tropical Storm Warning was issued SECOND MURDERER CHALLENGES REMOVAL TO UK Justin D’Angelo Ramoon, 26, who was transferred from Cayman’s North- ward Prison to a United Kingdom prison in June, along with his brother Osbourne Douglas, claims his removal from Cayman was unlawful. He is re- questing a judicial review, alleging the Cayman Islands government acted contrary to the 2009 Constitution Or- der’s Bill of Rights when it moved him from Cayman. His brother filed a sim- ilar suit last month. The brothers were convicted of the June 2015 murder of Jason Powery in George Town. For more on this story, see page 3. ‘Victim blaming’ a concern in child abuse cases JAMES WHITTAKER jwhittaker@pinnaclemedialtd.com Victim blaming risks legiti- mizing predators and makes sex crimes against children much more difficult to investigate, se- nior detectives and child safety advocates have warned. During several recent high- profile sexual abuse cases, police have been concerned about the level and tenor of commentary on social media. It’s not just that such com- ments risk influencing a trial, says Kevin Ashworth, the RCIPS supervisor in the new Multi- Agency Child Safeguarding Hub, which houses detectives leading child abuse investigations, as well as social workers and Health Services Authority coun- selors. Police are particularly concerned about the potential impact on victims who have yet to come forward. “This is a small society and it can be like a goldfish bowl at times,” Mr. Ashworth said. “If there are two trials running par- allel to each other – one in the courts that is very restricted and one that is on social media, com- pletely unrestricted and fueled by anonymous posts – we have to hope it doesn’t damage cases. “We know there are many more victims out there. There are 100,000 tons of waste added to landfill in 2016 JAMES WHITTAKER jwhittaker@pinnaclemedialtd.com Cayman Islands residents, businesses and tourists added more than 100,000 tons of waste to the George Town Landfill in 2016, according to data compiled by the Economics and Statistics Office. That represents a significant in- crease on the 73,000 tons that went to the landfill in 2015. Jim Schubert, senior project manager for the Integrated Solid Waste Management System, attributed the increase to a more rigorous collection of statistics rather than an increase in waste. The new national waste management system is expected to involve fees for com- mercial waste, and more accurate recording of statistics is required to decide what those fees should be. Government plans to hire a private sector partner to build and operate a suite of waste management facilities, including a waste-to-energy facility, recycling and com- posting center and a smaller, lined landfill for remaining waste. “If we go forward with a private partner, they are going to be paid based on tonnage. We needed to have an accurate number to be able to plan and design the facilities properly,” Mr. Schubert said. PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 7 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 7 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 7 » The latest Economics and Statistics Office report indicates that 102,074 tons of solid waste was deposited at the George Town landfill last year, an increase of 38.7 percent compared to the year before. - PHOTO: TANEOS RAMSAY2 LOCAL&REGIONAL THURSDAY OCTOBER 5, 2017 • CAYMAN COMPASS I Daily Matinees Every Day $8.00 Seniors, Mon-Fri Before 6pm Cayman Cinema@cbcinema6cbcinema6 *Additional charges will apply per 3D ticket requested. 640-FILM (640-3456) SATURDAY NIGHT: For your viewing pleasure, minors under the age of 18 will not be admitted to any film starting after 6pm, unless accompanied by their parent. - THURSDAY - FLATLINERS (PG13) 12:50 VIP I 3:45 I 6:40 VIP I 10:10 BATTLE OF THE SEXES (PG13) 1:10 I 4:10 I 7:00 I 9:50 LEGO NINJAGO MOVIE 3D (PG) 1:30 2D I 4:00 I 6:30 2D I 9:00 KINGSMAN: THE GOLDEN CIRCLE(R) 12:30 I 3:30 VIP I 6:35 I 9:20 VIP AMERICAN MADE (R) 1:40 I 4:25 I 7:15 I 10:05 IT (R) 12:50 I 4:00 I 7:05 I 9:45 Financial compliance experts urge industry vigilance Senior customs officer suspended FINAL DEATH TOLL IN MEXICO QUAKE IS 369 A senior Cayman Is- lands customs officer has been suspended with pay pending the outcome of an Anti-Corruption Commis- sion investigation. Collector of Customs Charles Clifford said Wednesday that he has determined it was in the public interest to place the officer, who he did not identify, on required leave – which is paid suspension. The officer, who was promoted in the depart- ment earlier this year, had not been charged with any crimes as of press time Wednesday. “We must all remember that the presumption of innocence must apply in all cases and this one is no exception,” Mr. Clifford said in a message to cus- toms staff. “However, it is equally important to as- sure everyone that there is absolutely no place in the customs department for any officer who is engaged in corruption or any other criminal activity.” MEXICO CITY (AP) – The last body known to be trapped in rubble fol- lowing Mexico’s magnitude 7.1 earthquake has been recovered, officials said Wednesday, and they raised the overall death toll from the quake to 369. The body was recov- ered from a collapsed office building in cen- tral Mexico City where a steadily dwindling number of families kept vigil for two weeks as an international assort- ment of rescuers worked a massive rubble heap. It was the last known active recovery site. Roberto Campa, the Mexican Interior De- partment’s deputy sec- retary for human rights, said via Twitter that 49 bodies were recovered from the site. They include 19 women and 30 men. Mexico City Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera said in an interview with Milenio television that the office building, which counted an employment agency and accounting firm among its tenants, was the last place in the city where bodies were being recovered. “We do not have any missing person,” he said. Mancera added that all bodies had been identified. The national Civil De- fense chief, Luis Felipe Pu- ente, tweeted that the of- ficial federal death toll had risen to 369. Of those, 228 were in the capital. KEN SILVA ksilva@pinnaclemedialtd.com Topics at the 13th annual Anti-Money Laundering/Com- pliance and Financial Crime Conference ranged from how offshore companies facilitate money laundering to Russian interference in Western poli- tics, with most subjects being tied to the theme of staying vigilant in an increasingly dangerous world. There were 10 speakers over the two-day event, in- cluding financial compliance experts who gave advice on spotting money laundering and terrorist financing, and consultants discussing how firms can handle the fallout if financial wrongdoing occurs. Despite the recent bevy of regulations that Cayman and other offshore juris- dictions have implemented, money laundering and ter- rorist financing is still “too easy,” according to speaker Kim Manchester, a longtime banking executive who now provides financial crime risk management training pro- grams to firms and public sector agencies. Mr. Manchester described a number of ways money launderers can escape the no- tice of regulators, including the “basic cuckoo,” where wrongdoers mask their trans- actions by using other peo- ple’s bank accounts – either by hijacking their accounts by blackmail or other methods, or using the accounts of trusted friends. He said this method is prevalent in potential ter- rorism hotbeds, such as war zones. “If your family comes from conflict somewhere, where you’re getting the living day- lights bombed out of you every day, you’ll go through extraordinary lengths to pro- tect that community. And if somebody comes along and says, can we use your bank accounts, what’s your answer? ‘Absolutely,’” he said. Other more sophisticated methods include the “back-to- back letter of credit” involving an onshore export firm and an offshore trading company – a company that matches wholesale buyers and sellers – that have the same share- holders. In that method, the onshore exporter may send goods to an importer – or it may not, depending on how fraudulent the scheme is – which pays the trading com- pany. Instead of paying the exporter, the offshore trading company holds onto the pay- ment or wires it to other en- tities, avoiding regulatory de- tection in the exporter’s home country in the process. Retired U.S. Internal Rev- enue Service agent Arthur Vandesande also said that many financial criminals will try to reduce their liability by “tricking” corporate service providers into being complicit with their schemes. There- fore, Mr. Vandesande told at- tendees to always assume they’re being recorded when speaking to clients. “Make sure you don’t say stupid things to people. Some of your clients are nefarious characters and will ask you questions to get you docu- mented so they can later say, ‘I didn’t come up with that scheme. My professional ad- viser in the Caymans came up with it. Here’s the email, here’s the phone call,’” he said. Along with discussing var- ious money laundering typol- ogies, cybersecurity expert David Cowen also gave a tuto- rial on how to avoid data theft and other cyber crimes. Scam artists used to em- ploy simplistic tactics like the “Nigerian prince” scam, but are now aggregating in- formation from Facebook and other social media sites to specifically target individ- uals in a more sophisticated manner, he said. For instance, Mr. Cowen said, scammers can often find out the names of ex- ecutives in a firm and send fraudulent emails to em- ployees requesting sensi- tive information. To avoid being victimized, people should closely check email and web addresses, and call people requesting sensi- tive information to confirm that their email is authentic. But despite taking strin- gent anti-money laundering and cyber crime measures, many firms will eventu- ally fall victim to them. That is why firms should always have plans in place to handle the fallout of such incidents, said speaker J.R. Helmig, the chief analytics officer for con- sulting firm SAS Federal. Mr. Helmig took attendees through a group exercise, splitting them into teams to discuss strategies on how to deal with various public crises. Some teams stated that they would attempt to “get out in front of the crisis” and issue a statement to the press immediately, while others said they would order their employees not to speak to media at all. According to Mr. Helmig, the best strategy is usually the one taken by executives of Johnson & Johnson in the Ty- lenol cyanide deaths of 1982. In that incident, in which seven people died in Chicago due to ingesting cyanide-laced Tylenol, company executives worked closely with law en- forcement and provided daily public updates on the prog- ress of investigations. De- spite the fact that no one was charged in relation to the in- cident, Johnson & Johnson was widely credited for its re- sponse, and the firm’s stock recovered from a 35 percent decrease within a year. The keynote speaker at the event was Yuri Felshtinsky, a Russian author, historian, and investigative journalist. Mr. Felshtinsky did not speak on financial services-related topics, but recounted his nearly 20-year saga of writing about the inner workings of Russia, its state security orga- nization FSB, and the regime of Vladimir Putin. Mr. Felshtinsky is best known for documenting how officials from the FSB – for- merly known as the KGB – took top positions in nearly all of the government’s de- partments and state-owned enterprises throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. In 2001, he and co-author Alexander Litvinenko pub- lished their book “Blowing Up Russia,” which alleges that the FSB bombed Rus- sian apartments in 2001 in a false-flag terrorist attack meant to justify the second Chechen war and bring Mr. Putin into power. The Russian government banned the book, and author- ities accused Messrs. Felsh- tinksy and Litvinenko of pub- lishing state secrets. In October 2006, about 13 days after he received U.K. cit- izenship, Mr. Litvinenko was poisoned to death in London with radioactive polonium – an act Mr. Felshtinksy alleges was committed by the FSB. Since then, the Russian au- thor has continued to docu- ment the Putin regime and other Russia-related topics. Mr. Felshtinksy said at the conference that Mr. Putin’s goal is to make Russia a world power, not by elevating it to the level of the U.S. and Euro- pean Union, but by destroying those political unions. The scheme is even more nefarious because it’s being pushed by not just Mr. Putin, but by the entire FSB, meaning that removing Mr. Putin would not solve the West’s problems, he said. “Russia has more FSB agents in the U.S. now than in the height of the Cold War,” he said. “This we know.” Speaker Arthur Vandesande, a retired U.S. Internal Revenue Service agent, warned attendees to always assume they’re being recorded when speaking to clients.3 LOCAL NEWS CAYMAN COMPASS • THURSDAY OCTOBER 5, 2017 Second murderer challenges removal to UK Police urge people to come forward about cosmetic injections DECEASED MAN FOUND IN BODDEN TOWN HOME The Royal Cayman Is- lands Police Service is ap- pealing for women who have experienced adverse effects after receiving cosmetic injections from unlicensed providers to come forward. In some cases, these injections have led to se- vere skin infections that require intensive, on- going treatment. Any women who are suffering from such symptoms are urged to make a re- port to police. “In the course of an ongoing investigation, we have heard that the practice of adminis- tering these injections in beauty salons without a license is widespread, with adverse effects ex- perienced by many cus- tomers,” Inspector Win- some Prendergast said in a press release. “We urge these people to come for- ward, and your complaint will be dealt with in the strictest confidence.” One such case in- volving an unlicensed practitioner is currently before the courts. Anyone with informa- tion about cosmetic injec- tions being wrongfully ad- ministered is encouraged to speak with Inspector Pren- dergast at the Bodden Town Police Station at 947-2220 or to email her at Winsome. Prendergast@gov.ky. A 46-year-old Bodden Town man was found de- ceased at a home where he had been working, on Tuesday afternoon. Police and emergency personnel responded to a report at a residence on Claries Avenue in Bodden Town shortly after 5 p.m. and found the man without any vital signs. The man had appar- ently passed away a few days before the discovery of his body. Circumstances of his death do not appear to be suspicious, but the in- cident is still under investi- gation, police said. BRENT FULLER bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com Justin D’Angelo Ramoon, 26, is the second former Northward Prison in- mate to challenge his re- moval from the Cayman prison earlier this year to the United Kingdom, alleging that the action taken by the Cayman Islands government was unlawful. The request for a judi- cial review of Ramoon’s case, filed Sept. 28 by attor- neys at Samson Law, alleges that government has violated several sections of the 2009 Constitution Order’s Bill of Rights, including prohibi- tion against inhuman or de- grading punishment, and the rights of access to justice and private and family life. Following his sentencing in December 2016 for the murder of Jason Powery, Ramoon was kept at North- ward Prison until his re- moval to the U.K. prison ser- vice in late June 2017. “No advance warning was given of this removal,” the judicial review application states. “No formal explana- tion or reasons were given. [Ramoon] was given no access to any attorney or to legal re- dress before the courts prior to his sudden removal.” The application claims that Ramoon’s family in Cayman, including his partner and 2-year-old son are “deeply affected” by his removal to the U.K. prison. He is being held some 4,800 miles away, according to the judicial review request, and was denied telephone ac- cess in the U.K. prison service for two months. Ramoon’s brother, Os- bourne Douglas, 30, was also sent to the U.K. in June after his conviction for the same murder. Douglas has also filed a similar request for ju- dicial review concerning his removal to the U.K. According to Cayman prison authorities in a statement issued in June: “[Ramoon’s] removal was authorized by the U.K. and Cayman Islands govern- ments in the interests of na- tional security and public safety for the people of the Cayman Islands.” The removal of both pris- oners was authorized by a 19th century British law – the Colonial Prisoners Re- moval Act of 1884. The Act allows prisoners to be sent to the U.K. for various rea- sons, including situations where it is “likely that the life of the prisoner will be en- dangered or his health per- manently injured by further imprisonment.” Also included in the act is removal “by reason of there being no prison in the said British possession in which the prisoner can properly undergo his sentence or oth- erwise the removal of the prisoner is expedient for his safer custody or for more ef- ficiently carrying his sen- tence into effect.” Samson Law attorneys disputed this claim, stating in the judicial review ap- plication that “for the first time” the government has made an “unspecified asser- tion” that Ramoon was in- volved in some criminality within the Cayman com- munity while incarcerated at Northward. “The respondents [the governor, prisons director and attorney general] sug- gest that Her Majesty’s Prison Northward is unable to offer the level of security required,” the judicial review request states. “No evidence is provided.” At the Cayman prison, Ramoon was kept in solitary confinement for 22 hours each day, his attorneys said. The Cayman Islands Grand Court has not heard either request for judicial review. If the court agrees to consider either case, it would come before the court for a full hearing. Justin D’Angelo Ramoon, in blue and red striped shirt, is escorted from a prison van during a court visit to the scene of the fatal shooting for which he and his brother Osbourne Douglas, in plaid shirt exiting the van, were found guilty. - PHOTO: JAMES WHITTAKER Older Persons Month kicks off in Cayman Deputy Governor Franz Manderson, center, and Older Persons Month ambassadors Charles Lindbergh Eden and Lurlie Scott were among the guests at the official launch of Older Persons Month at the Family Life Centre in George Town Tuesday. The event followed Sunday’s church service at Agape Family Centre to mark the start of the month during which Cayman’s senior citizens are celebrated. Social events for Cayman’s elderly residents will be held throughout October. Police return from BVI Deputy Police Commissioner Kurt Walton, left, welcomes home officer Kevin Barnes, one of 16 Royal Cayman Islands Police Service personnel who spent two weeks providing security in the British Virgin Islands after Hurricanes Irma and Maria. The police team, which touched down at Owen Roberts International Airport Monday night, was relieved by a second contingent of officers who departed for BVI earlier in the day. – PHOTO: MARK MUCKENFUSSThe 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. THURSDAY OCTOBER 5, 2017 • CAYMAN COMPASS With all the attention paid to blue iguanas, man- groves and our islands’ many other environmental wonders, we must not forget what may be our greatest natural resource (and tourist attraction) of them all: Cayman’s beaches. Plentiful, beautiful and free to the public, Cayman’s beaches are integral to our “island home” – serving as living rooms for gathering with friends and family, gymnasia for jogging or swimming, banquet halls for weddings and birthday celebrations, and retreats where we go to breathe deeply, relax and renew. The world-renowned beauty of our crystalline beaches is fundamental to our economy – enticing visitors from around the globe to sink their toes into the powdery white sand and gaze across turquoise waters. Indeed, U.S. News & World Report not too long ago proclaimed Seven Mile Beach as the finest beach in the world. Our beaches should be revered. Instead, we are witnessing a noticeable decline in their protection and preservation – a slow erosion of respect, evidenced by the trash and other detritus left by thoughtless beach- goers and in the increasing prevalence of antisocial behaviors that just as surely, if less apparently, bespoil our beaches. This past Sunday, local volunteers removed more than 1,100 pounds of trash from Beach Bay beach in Bodden Town. An earlier effort by the same group last month yielded some 488 pounds of garbage from Colliers Beach in East End. If that sounds like a lot (and it is), consider all the trash different groups of volun- teers pick up from other beaches throughout the year, as well as the refuse that goes uncollected. Littering is not the only indignity Cayman’s beaches (and beachgoers) are subjected to. All along our coast, pristine beaches are becoming staging areas for selfish, if not downright sketchy, misbehavior. At West Bay Beach (near the Four-Way Stop), which is one of the most picturesque “boutique beaches” in Cayman, the daily specter of unsavory habitués has created an atmosphere that is disquieting, if not outright threatening, to visitors and residents alike. The many groups blasting music at the Public Beach on Seven Mile Beach have turned weekends (and many weeknights) into a head-splitting “battle of the bands.” Unlicensed (and sometimes rude) vendors and peddlers have added unpleasantness to what should be an inviting and idyllic experience. At Cayman’s beloved Smith Cove, the convivial character of this usually quiet, family-friendly beach has been eroded by acts of thievery and other antisocial behavior. At Coe Wood Beach in Bodden Town – long a gath- ering place for the community – unsavory elements have taken to occupying the beach at night, after decent folks have gone home to bed. And then there’s our beautiful Rum Point, which is now becoming a gathering place for marauding motorbikers, public intoxication and otherwise unacceptable behavior. One thing is certain: Ongoing tolerance of rude, dangerous or even criminal activity will attract more such misbehavior. Eventually, the average citizen (responsible, consid- erate and “CaymanKind”) will find other things to do. Residents will avoid troublesome beaches, and tourists will find other beaches, perhaps in other locales, to visit. We cannot allow that to happen. We must gather as a community to insist that this troubling arc be halted. Law enforcement (backed by politicians, prosecutors, public leaders and, most importantly, the general public) must “draw a line in the sand” on crime, vandalism, littering and loitering on our beaches. We must treat them – and respect them – for what they are: Our islands’ most precious assets. Beach behavior: Drawing a line in the sand Reading of Foster’s plan to close the Strand store and move to Camana Bay sent a chill down my spine (“Fos- ter’s IGA plans Camana Bay move,” Sept. 27). I am puz- zled by the move. Usually a store locates where the ma- jority of its customers are. I fail to see how a move to Camana Bay will serve more customers than it does now. Perhaps the reasoning is to make the new proper- ties that will be developed by Dart on that end of Seven Mile Beach more appealing because of easier access to the grocery store? Whatever the reason, I fail to see this move as a positive benefit for the stay-over tourist. As a long-term renter of a condo on mid-SMB, I am concerned where I and all the other visitors and owners of the condos (and hotel guests) in that area will get groceries. There’s no way we can walk to Camana Bay and lug bags of gro- ceries back. Gone will be the ability to load up and push the cart back to the condo (a system which was con- venient and seems to work well with the carts being re- trieved and returned to the store often). For those of us who do not rent a car, the absence of a close grocery store is going to be a major problem. And this will be a problem for hundreds (thou- sands?) of people staying on a huge stretch of SMB that is mostly condo and hotel properties. Cindy Smith Iowa, U.S. LETTER TO THE EDITOR New Foster’s location will be inconvenient 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 EXECUTIVE EDITOR PATRICK BRENDEL A MEMBER OF THE INTER-AMERICAN PRESS ASSOCIATION “Give light and the people will find their own way” Help low-income students to scale the ivory tower BLOOMBERG VIEW America’s elite colleges are more selective than ever before. They also remain dis- proportionately populated by the wealthy – in part be- cause many qualified stu- dents from poor backgrounds do not even apply. The good news is that there are proven strate- gies for ensuring that prom- ising students get the op- portunities they deserve. What it takes is a concerted effort to reduce barriers and strengthen programs that give low-income kids more guidance about their college options. Going to an elite col- lege does not guarantee fu- ture success, but it greatly increases the chances of earning a degree. Ninety percent of high-achieving, low-income students who attend selective colleges re- ceive degrees, compared to 56 percent of similar stu- dents who enroll at less competitive schools. A big reason is money: Richer col- leges can often afford to cover the full cost of tuition for poor students and pro- vide more resources to help them graduate. And yet the vast majority of high-achieving, low in- come students aren’t even applying. Fewer than one in four high-performing stu- dents from families in the bottom socioeconomic quar- tile apply to any selective colleges at all. Some are un- doubtedly scared off by “sticker shock” at the ad- vertised cost of tuition, room and board. Others may balk at ap- plication fees, which can add up. There is also a widespread assumption that if they do apply, they will not get in. The cumulative effect is that thousands of qualified students from poor families are missing out on colleges that will cost less and pro- duce better outcomes than the schools they ultimately attend. Researchers even have a term for the problem: “undermatching.” What should be done? Colleges should work to- gether to make the applica- tion process simpler, cheaper and more transparent. They can start by using common applications that automati- cally waive application fees for low-income students, as more than 100 institu- tions have started to do. They should also make available fi- nancial aid data to nonprofit third-party services, such as Pell Abacus, which help ap- plicants compare and cal- culate the actual (often dis- counted) cost of tuition. States and local school districts should identify the most qualified candidates early in the process and pro- vide them with advising re- sources. CollegePoint, a Bloomberg Philanthropies initiative, matches high- achieving, low-income high- school students with advisers from similar backgrounds who are recent graduates of elite colleges. Another prom- ising experiment is the Del- aware College Scholars pro- gram, a three-week summer academy for 10th, 11th and 12th graders that is focused on guiding them through each step of the college ap- plication process. More than 90 percent of the program’s graduates have enrolled in four-year colleges. These programs require resources and commitment, but they are worth the in- vestment. America’s elite in- stitutions of higher educa- tion need to be accessible to working- and middle-class families. Addressing the problem of undermatching is one vital step toward offering opportunity to students who need it most. © 2017, Bloomberg View.5 LOCAL NEWS CAYMAN COMPASS • THURSDAY OCTOBER 5, 2017 Exploring the Relationship BETWEEN NUTRITION And Health Registration Now Open www.healthcareconference.ky KEYNOTE SPEAKER DR. SONALI RUDER The Foodie Physician Healthy Eating Through the Different Stages of Life OCTOBER 19TH - 21ST, 2017 MINISTRY OF HEALTH, ENVIRONMENT CULTURE & HOUSING The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman 19th – 21st October 2017 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, YOUTH, SPORTS, AGRICULTURE AND LANDS OPEN TO ALL AND FREE TO ATTEND. CME CERTIFICATES WILL BE AVAILABLE. Students learn road safety skills Students from the Cayman International School were taught proper pedestrian and road user safety last week by representatives from Rotary and the Royal Cayman Is- lands Police Service. That tutorial, taught under the Rotary Clubs Share the Road campaign, sent Ro- tarian Dawn Cummings and Inspector Ian Yearwood to the school to focus on mu- tual respect among all road users. The presentation also focused on keeping children safe while they are walking, cycling or traveling in a car. Children, said Ms. Cum- mings, are among Cayman’s most vulnerable road users. “Children have little or no sense of danger and find it hard to judge the direc- tion of sounds, the speed and distance of oncoming vehi- cles and the gaps between them,” she said. “They are still learning to identify safe crossing places and antici- pate driver behavior. “One thing we can do to reduce the risk of acci- dents is to educate children about road safety. It’s impor- tant that children can iden- tify dangerous situations on the road and how to safely play, walk and cycle out- side. This is one of the ob- jectives of Rotary’s Share the Road campaign.” Inspector Yearwood told the students how they can better protect themselves as pedestrians, and he stressed the importance of using seat belts in a car and a helmet while biking. “I want to remind all par- ents to make sure their chil- dren have and wear a bike helmet, are wearing suit- able reflective, bright or light clothing and have lights and reflectors fitted to their bikes or scooters,” he said. “It’s all about being seen in order to stay safe.” The children also learned the correct and safest ways to cross the road. “Using a catchy rhyme, we taught the children to stop, look and listen before they cross the street,” said In- spector Yearwood said. “Chil- dren should always hold an adult’s hand on the pave- ment, in the car park or when crossing the road.” “Cayman’s road users must remember to always slow down and be on the lookout for the unexpected in areas where children might be playing or cycling. It is up to all of us to keep each other safe, particularly the youngest members of our community.” Tatum Acutt, a Grade 1 teacher at Cayman Interna- tional School, said the stu- dents were learning about road safety before the Ro- tary visit as part of their science curriculum’s Health and Safety Unit. “The visit from the Share the Road crew was excel- lent,” said Ms. Acutt. “The children now have a good un- derstanding of the need to keep themselves safe while using the road.” Grade 1 student Tessa Danter was pleased with the opportunity to learn road rules. “We learned about being safe on the roads,” she said. “This means people who are driving, walking and on motorcycles or bikes too. My favorite part is when we watched the video about people stopping and being safe.” Police Inspector Ian Yearwood and Rotarian Dawn Cummings discuss pedestrian and road user safety with Grade 1 students at Cayman International School.DISTRICT DAYS 6 District Days Bodden Town THURSDAY OCTOBER 5, 2017 • CAYMAN COMPASS 1,100 pounds of garbage plucked from beach BRENT FULLER bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com Volunteers cleared more than 1,100 pounds of trash from Beach Bay beach in Bodden Town on Sunday as part of an ongoing effort to raise awareness in Cayman about the environmental dangers of plastic products. The cleanup was a com- bined effort of Red Sail Sports and a new nonprofit calling itself Plastic-Free Cayman, which applied to be formed earlier this year. The group is the brain- child of local physical edu- cation teacher Claire Hughes, who found herself “shocked at the plastic pollution problem,” particularly in the Caribbean Sea – highlighted in the 2016 documentary “A Plastic Ocean.” Several dozen volun- teers showed up for Sun- day’s effort in Beach Bay, which was the second such beach cleanup the group has held. The first one in East End’s Collier’s Beach last month picked up about 488 pounds of trash. Ms. Hughes said she was happy with the result of both beach cleanups and said the group plans monthly events around Grand Cayman, with the next one scheduled for West Bay’s Barkers beach in early November. Generally, the cleanups are held the first weekend of every month on either Saturday or Sunday. “We have an Earth Day cleanup once a year, but we don’t have anything re- ally regularly,” Ms. Hughes said, acknowledging that the monthly beach-combing ac- tivities will not, by them- selves, solve the trash pollu- tion problem in Cayman. “You can [do] beach cleans every week, but un- less you start reducing plastic pollution you’re going to have major prob- lems,” she said. Plastic bag petition Plastic-Free Cayman sent a 2,000 signature petition to government ministers this week, asking them to enact a ban on “single use” plastic bags in the islands. Ms. Hughes said single- use plastics, such as straws, bags, plastic bottles and plastic cups, are the “big four” when it comes to ocean pollution, and notes that much of the refuse ending up on Cayman’s shores doesn’t necessarily come from here. “We’ve been able to track a lot of stuff back to Haiti and the Dominican Republic,” she said. “Residents on these islands sometimes don’t have anywhere to dump their trash, so they just throw it into the sea. “We’re addicted to it [plastic] really. It’s become so convenient for us that we don’t think twice about it. Fifty years ago, we didn’t have these things.” MLA office opens in Evron Plaza JEWEL LEVY jlevy@pinnaclemedialtd.com A new Bodden Town MLA office was officially opened to the public last week. The office is based in the Evron Plaza, on the corner of Anton Bodden Drive and Harvey Stephenson Drive. Dwayne Seymour, Min- ister for Health, Culture and Environment and Bodden Town MLA, celebrated the opening on Wednesday, Sept. 27, with community resi- dents, and invited guests to tour the new offices. The site consists of a re- ception area, boardroom, one minister’s office and one administrative office. Mr. Seymour told guests that the office was now open for business. Some residents took the opportunity to meet with the minister and give him their support and to air some concerns on personal issues and things happening within the district. Mr. Seymour thanked the owners of Evron Plaza for in- vesting in Bodden Town. He also said he would be at the office on Thursdays, but on days when he was not taking care of government busi- ness in the Legislative As- sembly, he would be avail- able for people. “There will be an appoint- ment book; persons can reg- ister at anytime when the of- fice is open,” he said. Now that the office is open, Minister Seymour said the office’s executive committee members will form councils. They will create zones with smaller groups in the com- munities. These groups will report back any needs the people of the community in their area might have. “Once we get the district community groups up and running, we [will] be able to reach people in the different areas of the community,” Mr. Seymour said. The office is open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Volunteers of all ages were out in force for Sunday’s beach cleanup at Beach Bay. - PHOTOS: BRENT FULLER Volunteers sort through the trash collected during the beach cleanup. 50 years ago: Kirk C lost, crew safe In the Oct. 4, 1967 edi- tion of the Caymanian Weekly, a precursor of the Cayman Compass, the fol- lowing story appeared on the front page: “It is good to be able to report that the Cap- tain and eight other mem- bers of the crew of the Kirk C were rescued by a Cuban fishing vessel and taken to Havana. “A telephone call by His Honour to the British Consul in Havana estab- lished that all nine men were safe after having been in the life boat for 34 hours. “Unfortunately, the Kirk C was lost, having been wrecked on the Campeche Banks while sailing from Progresso, Mexico, to Campeche. The centre of Hurricane Beulah passed 30 miles from the position of the Kirk C when she sank. “Her Master, John Buckley, is from Utila but is a U.S. citizen, one crew member is from British Honduras and six from Spanish Honduras. Keith Walton, Chief Engi- neer from Cayman Brac, was the only Caymanian member of the crew. The latest report is that the men will be flown from Havana to Mexico and thence to their homes.” The same edition in- cludes the following front page report, titled “More jets this season”: “There is evidence to suggest that we shall soon not only require more car parking space in the centre of town but also more parking space at the airport for the increasing number of planes which are expected during the coming season. “In addition to BWIA, LACSA and CBA sched- uled flights, Pacific Western will be starting its charter flights on Nov. 10. This year, they will be using a Boeing 727 jet aircraft. The visitors from the Vancouver area will be staying at the La Fontaine Hotel. “Galleon Beach and Coral Caymanian Ho- tels have signed agree- ments with a private air- line for charter flights every two weeks from Dec. 15 and this airline will also be using 727s with seating capacity for 110 passengers. “These plus private planes and unexpected flights will tax our parking space to a maximum and we express the hope that they don’t all decide to ar- rive on the same day.” Minister Dwayne Seymour speaks with resident Harvey Stephenson after the opening of the MLA office in Bodden Town last week. - PHOTO: JEWEL LEVYThe islands’ most-trusted news source 7 CAYMAN COMPASS • THURSDAY OCTOBER 5, 2017 Previously, he said, there was no economic incentive to weigh every load that came into the landfill, and the statistics had not always been recorded precisely. He said around two years ago officials had begun ensuring every load was weighed so they would have relevant data to assess the likely life span of the current landfill site and the size and cost of the new facilities. “You don’t want to design something that is meant to handle waste growth over 25 years and then find out that you are at a facility’s throughput capacity at the first year,” he added. He said he was confident that the 2016 figure of 102,074 tons was accurate, though he noted it also includes around 8,700 tons of marl used for covering exposed areas of the site and not strictly classi- fied as waste. Mr. Schubert said the new approach would also in- volve public education in an effort to reduce the amount of unnecessary waste – plastic shopping bags and water bottles, for example. “One ton per person is a good rule of thumb, so we are on the high side for a popu- lation of around 65,000,” he said. Booming tourism and construction sectors likely add to the amount of waste, he said. The new system is expected to radically reduce the amount that ends up in the landfill. “In future, you might still see 100,000 tons arriving at the waste management site, but only 5 percent of that will go to landfill,” he said. “The rest will be recycled, composted or go through waste-to-energy.” from Sandy Bay Sirpi, Nica- ragua, north to Punta Castilla, Honduras. The U.S. National Hurricane Center described the environmental conditions as conducive for the storm intensifying over the next 24 to 36 hours. “Rapid intensification is a possibility over the north- western Caribbean or southern Gulf of Mexico while the system is traversing rather warm and deep waters, although it re- mains to be seen how sepa- rate the depression becomes from a larger gyre over central America,” the National Hurri- cane Center’s official forecast said Wednesday morning. Residents of the Bay Islands, western Cuba and the Yucatan Peninsula were advised to mon- itor the progress of the storm. The system is expected to con- tinue strengthening as it moves over the Gulf of Mexico on Friday and through the weekend. It may affect areas of the northern Gulf Coast as a hur- ricane by the weekend. Fore- casters advised, however, that it is still too early to determine timing and intensity. Residents of the Gulf Coast from Loui- siana to Florida were advised to monitor the storm. more witnesses out there that see this behavior and know it is wrong but don’t report it be- cause of this victim blaming and witness blaming that takes place.” When Errington Webster, 55, a prominent Bodden Town resident who had planned to run for political office, was on trial this year for indecently assaulting a girl in her early teens, a small, but vocal sec- tion of the community came out in his defense. Comments during the trial that the child victim had ma- nipulated him and was par- tially to blame were par- ticularly concerning for Mr. Ashworth. In that case, the court heard that Webster gave the child presents and sometimes money. “I think I saw a compar- ison made between an expe- rienced male versus a vulner- able, impressionable child who was essentially groomed,” said Mr. Ashworth. “From a psycho- logical point of view, these are classic cases of empowering a perpetrator to carry on doing what they are doing. Even if it is a minority view, once it is raised on social media, it be- comes a talking point and it can certainly have an influence on other victims.” The impact of victim blaming in child abuse cases is particularly pernicious, says Carolina Ferreira, deputy director of the Cayman Is- lands Red Cross, because it reinforces what the child may already be hearing from the perpetrator. “It keeps young people si- lent and it adds to that fear that they won’t be believed. This is what the perpetrator is already telling them: no one will believe you; you were part of it too. Sometimes this is what children are hearing in their own home, for ex- ample, if it is a partner of the parent or one of the parents who is accused.” Statistics suggest sexual abuse is one of the most under-reported crimes in many jurisdictions. One in five girls between the ages of 15 and 19 reported that they had been sexually abused in childhood, during a comprehensive World Health Organization-funded survey of Cayman Islands teenagers published in 2015. Ms. Ferreira said earlier studies suggest the number was even higher, yet many victims are still not be- lieved when they first report the abuse to an adult. According to Mr. Ashworth, the MASH unit is bringing a new approach to investigating reports of abuse against chil- dren, as the unit involves po- lice, social workers and child psychologists from the outset. He said the unit does not simply treat victims as wit- nesses in potential criminal cases, but provides a full sup- port structure to help ad- dress the issue from a child safety perspective. He believes, despite some high-profile mistakes in pre- vious investigations before MASH was launched in March, that this new approach has al- ready resulted in an increase in reporting. By August of this year, the number of cases involving ju- venile victims referred to the unit had already eclipsed the total of 286 reports in 2016. The figure for 2015 was 219. “We are seeing an exponen- tial growth in reporting since the opening of the MASH unit,” Mr. Ashworth said. “We don’t think that means there has been an increase in this type of behavior, [but] witnesses and victims know where to come and have that confidence in the system to come forward. It is a positive thing in that the issue is being highlighted and dealt with.” Ms. Ferreira believes sexual abuse is a multi- generational problem that has gone under-reported in Cayman for decades. She believes victim blaming on Facebook is the tip of an iceberg that hints at a wider lack of understanding of the dynamics of sexual abuse, the impact of grooming and the steps parents can take to pro- tect their children. “The reality is that when we are talking about abuse and it is an adult perpetrator and a child victim, the child is never to blame,” she said. “Yet with girls, the question people always seem to ask is was she really that innocent? With boys, we don’t talk about it at all. It is treated as a high- five situation.” The Red Cross helped form the Protection Starts Here or- ganization in 2012, bringing together teachers, education officials, health professionals, police and others to raise awareness of child sexual abuse in the Cayman Islands and improve training for adults dealing with children. The project has developed a documentary that high- lights the scale and impact of the problem in the Cayman Is- lands and is used as a learning tool for organizations that deal with children. It also facilitates “darkness to light” training to help adults identify the signs of abuse and protect children against it. The group also of- fers “Seal of Protection” status to youth organizations, such as summer camps and sports clubs that follow proper pro- tection procedures, including criminal background checks for workers and volunteers. Ms. Ferreira said it is im- portant for parents to ed- ucate themselves and, as consumers, hold such organi- zations accountable. Though people fear stereo- typical “stranger danger,” in most child abuse cases, she says, the threat is often a lot closer to home. “In 90 percent of cases, the perpetrator is someone you know and maybe someone you love, which is what makes it so difficult. It is who you give ac- cess to your children.” CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Concern over ‘victim blaming’ in child abuse cases 100,000 tons of waste added to landfill in 2016 LANDFILL FIRE PROBLEM EXTINGUISHED JAMES WHITTAKER jwhittaker@pinnaclemedialtd.com The periodic fires that have plagued the George Town Landfill site for years appear to have been brought under control. There was only one fire at any of the Cayman Is- lands landfill sites in 2016, according to figures from the Compendium of Statistics. That is down from 40 in 2011. The problem of intermittent fires at the site came to public attention in dramatic style in December 2013 when a fire blazed for 20 hours, sending thick plumes of black smoke billowing over George Town. Mark Rowlands, as- sistant director at the De- partment of Environmental Health with responsibility for solid waste, said opera- tional changes at the George Town site had largely dealt with the problem. He said the “working area” had been radically reduced to around 60 feet in width, and marl and fill-material is now used to cover waste at 10-foot intervals. The smaller area is much easier to manage, he said, and the layers prevent any fires that might break out from spreading deep within the landfill. “It is standard best-management practice for a landfill site,” he said. The new national waste management system is expected to involve fees for commercial waste and more accurate recording of statistics is required to decide what those fees should be. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Tropical Storm Nate expected to form, may impact Cayman CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 White House to seek $29B disaster aid package WASHINGTON (AP) – The Trump administration is fi- nalizing a $29 billion di- saster aid package that combines $16 billion to shore up the government- backed flood insurance pro- gram with almost $13 bil- lion for hurricane victims, according to a senior ad- ministration official and congressional aides. Outlines of the request, expected to be sent to Con- gress on Wednesday, were characterized by officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because the measure was not yet public. The government-guar- anteed flood insurance pro- gram is on track to run out of money to pay claims during the week of Oct. 23. The Fed- eral Emergency Manage- ment Agency is continuing to spend money for relief oper- ations for hurricane Harvey, Irma and Maria at a high rate and requires more money. The flood insurance pro- gram is maxing out on a $30 billion line of credit from Treasury. The upcoming pro- posal would wipe away $16 billion of that debt and permit the program to pay claims from hurricane vic- tims. Almost $13 billion is being requested for FEMA. Federal firefighting accounts would receive $577 million as well to replenish them after a disastrous season of Western wildfires. “This is going to be ex- traordinarily expensive and I think we need to get some money out there,” said the chairman of the House Ap- propriations Committee, Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, Re- publican of New Jersey. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Republican of California, said he had met with lawmakers from Texas and Florida on Tuesday to brief them on the White House request. “Remember, this is emer- gency money. You’ve got to deal with the problem,” McCarthy told reporters. “So I think we’ll be able to get this done.”The islands’ most-trusted news source 8 Community CALENDAR ■ COMMUNITY CALENDAR is published TUESDAYS and THURSDAYS. It is available to charitable or nonprofit organizations. Items should be submitted at least three working days before publication. Information must include name of sender, signature and contact number. ■ Items may be faxed to 949-2662, brought to the Cayman Compass office on Shedden Rd. or emailed to cwinker@pinnaclemedialtd.com at least three days in advance of publication. THURSDAY OCTOBER 5, 2017 • CAYMAN COMPASS FRIDAY, OCT. 6 LITTLE CAYMAN OLDER PERSONS: Social, National Trust Building, 11 a.m. SATURDAY, OCT. 7 BRAC AUTUMN FESTIVAL: Teen Poetry, 10-11 a.m. at the Library; Children’s Art, 10-11 a.m. at Museum. “Falling in Love with Fall,” 7-10 p.m. at Dan and Lisa Scott’s House. Contact Simone Scott at simones@candw.ky for more information. FOSTER CARE: If you are interested in foster care parenting and want to know more about what it requires, visit the Department of Children and Family Services’ Foster Care Information Booth at Foster’s Food Fair (Strand), 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. CAYMAN CRAFT: The exhibition, REVIVE! – Celebrating contemporary and traditional craft from the Cayman Islands, opens to the public today at the National Gallery. ROADSIDE CLEANUP: West Bay Community Emergency Response Team will do a roadside cleanup at 6 a.m. in the vicinity of the West Bay Cemetery and Fire Station. Members of the community are invited to assist with this beautification project. Call 929-9932. SUNDAY, OCT. 8 BRAC AUTUMN FESTIVAL: Clean and Climb On at Pollard Beach, 2 p.m. Old Fashion Evangelistic Service, 6 – 9 p.m., Cotton Tree Bay Church of God. Contact Simone Scott at simones@candw.ky for more information. REFEREE BEGINNERS COURSE: Become a football referee. Interested males and females between 18 and 33 should call CIFA office 949-5775 or email villan47@hotmail.com (Kenville Holder) to register. Course is Oct. 8 and 15, Sundays 3 p.m., on the weekdays and Saturday, 6 or 6:30 p.m. George Town Primary School. Cost is free. CERAMIC OPEN STUDIO: Offered by Visual Arts Society to adults who want to work independently in an inspiring atmosphere: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Watler House Studio, Pedro St. James. $15 pp/$25 pp non-members. Clay, materials, glazes and firing facilities are available. More information, info@visualartcayman.com. MONDAY, OCT. 9 BRAC OLDER PERSONS: Island Tour, 9 a.m. TUESDAY, OCT. 10 STEM CONFERENCE: UCCI. Registration and reception, 6-7 p.m. Opening session, 7 p.m. Keynote speaker is Francis French, director of the San Diego Air and Space Museum. Free admission. FIGURE DRAWING: Visual Arts Society offers drop-in workshops Tuesdays Oct. 10, 17, 24. This is an opportunity for artists to develop their skills. Live model and easels provided plus guidance from a qualified art teacher. Drop in fee is $25 per session/$35 non-members. For more information, email info@visualartcayman.com or call 546-9422. THURSDAY, OCT. 12 CLIFTON HUNTER HIGH SCHOOL PTA: All are invited to the 2017/2018 annual general meeting 6:30 p.m. in the Assembly Hall. Guests Speakers are the Eastern Districts MLAs. INTERIOR DESIGN WORKSHOP: Today is the revised deadline to register for the Visual Arts Society’s “Personalize Your Home” four-week Interior Design workshop runs Oct. 12 and 19; Nov. 9 and 16. Redesign a room or plan a new home. Four-week workshop fee is $100 for members. Non- members, $125. Fee includes vision boards, use of studio, instruction by qualified interior designer. Contact info@visualartcayman.com or 546-9422. SIPPING AND PAINTING: Offered by Visual Arts Society at Le Vele Restaurant on the waterfront in George Town. 6-9:30 p.m. $35 pp includes signature cocktail, tasting of four different wines, Wine Glass to paint plus basic primary colors and brushes to share. OLDER PERSONS MONTH: A Night with the Stars Powered by CUC, Cayman Islands National Museum, 4 p.m. FRIDAY, OCT. 13 WYCLIFFE SOCIAL: The Wycliffe Bible Translators Cayman Team invites all to a Wycliffe Fellowship Drop-In Social to fellowship with Caymanian Missionaries Jim and Karla Smith. Come and hear what God is doing in Asia. 5-8 p.m. the Church of God Chapel on Walkers Road. Enter Faith Hall on the right and follow the welcome signs. Light refreshments will be served. VOICES FOR HOSPICE: An evening of song and dance with the theme of “Nostalgia.” Harquail Theatre (venue change.) Champagne gala tonight. Tickets are $75. Doors open 6:30 p.m. Show 7:30 p.m. Contact 945-7447 or fundraising@ caymanhospicecare.ky. BRAC OLDER PERSONS: Bingo Nite. Free. Aston Rutty Civic Centre, 6-9 p.m. SATURDAY, OCT. 14 VOICES FOR HOSPICE: An evening of song and dance with the theme of “Nostalgia.” Harquail Theatre. Tickets are $50 for reserved seating. General seating at sides and balconies, $25. Doors open 6 p.m. Show 7 p.m. Contact 945-7447 or fundraising@ caymanhospicecare.ky. WEDNESDAY, OCT. 18 OLDER PERSONS MONTH: The Big Stage, Harquail Theatre, 6:30 p.m. THURSDAY, OCT. 19 OLDER PERSONS MONTH: Tea Party, Pines Retirement Home, 2-4 p.m. RSVP to Vanda Powery 916-7902. FRIDAY, OCT. 20 NCVO DRESS DOWN DAY: All schools, businesses and service clubs are invited to join with the National Council of Voluntary Organisations in dressing down and dressing in green for a small donation to the charity’s 38th Annual Radio/Telethon. Donate what you can and your group’s representative can make the presentation of funds at the telethon on Oct. 21 at the Prospect Playhouse. To schedule your donation appearance, contact Janice Wilson on ncvo@ncvo.org.ky or 949-2124. SATURDAY, OCT. 21 OLDER PERSONS MONTH: Circle of Love Brunch, George Town Yacht Club, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. RSVP to Vanda Powery 916-7902. NCVO RADIO/TELETHON: Prospect Playhouse, 7 p.m. to midnight. All are invited to make a pledge. Donors will be entered to win prizes. All funds raised benefit the NCVO Children’s Programs. To make a corporate donation, contact Janice Wilson on 949-2124 or ncvo@ncvo.org.ky. SMALL BUSINESS EXPO: The Cayman Islands Small Business Association invites the public to the annual Small Business Expo at UCCI Fellowship Hall. 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Free admission. Contact 946-3147 or email cisbacayman@gmail.com. WEDNESDAY, OCT. 25 PIRATES WEEK FOOD HANDLERS TRAINING: The Department of Environmental Health will conduct two basic Food Handlers’ Certification Courses for Pirates Week food vendors today and tomorrow, 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. All food handlers needing to update their certification before Pirates Week should register early, as there is limited space available. Cost is $15 per person and includes materials. Certification is valid for three years. To register, visit the DEH main office or contact 949-6696 or dehcustomerservice@gov.ky. GENERAL INTEREST GAMEBIRD SEASON: The Department of Environment reminds hunters that the season for white-winged doves opens on Oct. 1 and there is a 12 bird bag and possession limit. The season for blue-winged teal opened Sept. 1; there is a three bird bag and possession limit. GARBAGE COLLECTION: The Department of Environmental Health urges residents and business operators to ensure that garbage containers are accessible to sanitation crews at all times. Place garbage containers either at the front of the property or at a side that is accessible to the roadway. Receptacles must be stored in properly constructed enclosures and should not impede the flow of traffic. HURRICANE RELIEF: The Adventist Church has started a fund in aid of Hurricane Irma victims in the Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas. Financial contributions may be made at the local office, 209 Walkers Road, during business hours, or at the nearest Adventist Church. Donations may also be deposited at the Royal Bank of Canada, to ADRA account number 500-6234. SCHOLARSHIPS: The Chevening Secretariat is accepting applications for U.K. government scholarships to study in the U.K. in 2018/2019. Applications for Chevening Scholarships are open until Nov. 7, with applications to be submitted via www.chevening.org/apply. CERAMIC OPEN STUDIO: Offered by the Visual Arts Society on Wednesdays to adults. 9 a.m. to noon at the Watler House Studio, Pedro St. James. $15 per person or $25 per non-member. Clay, materials and firing facilities available. Contact info@visualartcayman.com. SPECIAL OLYMPICS: Volunteers needed for weekly sports training. Tuesdays – Track, bocce, football. Wednesdays – Lighthouse School swimming at Lions pool. Thursdays – Basketball. Saturdays – Adult swim. Golf is starting soon if interested. Contact Darrel Rankine, national director at soci@candw.ky or 916-2600. CANDLE MAKING: Visual Arts Society offers this workshop at the National Trust Club House on Sundays 3 – 4:30 p.m. Fee of $45 per member or $55 per non-member includes materials for two candles. Parasol painting workshops, 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Same fee, includes one parasol. Contact info@visualartcayman.com. TOBACCO LICENCES: Tobacco license holders are reminded of the 5 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 1, deadline to apply for their annual license renewals. Annual registration renewal fees are $500 for a retailer, $750 for a cigar bar and $5,000 for a wholesale distributor. LEADERSHIP CAYMAN: The Chamber of Commerce is now accepting applications for the 2018 program. Improve your leadership skills by applying today. Deadline is Oct. 27. Call 743-9121 for further information or visit www.caymanchamber.ky/ leadershipcayman. HUMANE SOCIETY THRIFT SHOP: The shop has moved to Plaza Venezia, next to China Village. The thrift shop is open Tuesday to Saturday 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., closed on Sunday and Monday. Phone 945-5596. BETHESDA COUNSELLING CENTRE: Caters to all who seek help. Open Monday to Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at 68 Mary St. Appointments available Saturdays and late evenings. Owned and operated by the United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. Call 946-6575. For more Community Calendar events, visit www.caymancompass.com/events. ‘Knotted Baskets’ (detail) by Kathryn Elphinstone is part of a new exhibition, ‘Revive!’ – celebrating contemporary and traditional craft from the Cayman Islands. The exhibition opens to the public Saturday, Oct. 7, at the National Gallery.The islands’ most-trusted news source 9 Trump confident in Tillerson The White House says President Donald Trump remains confident in Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. On Wednesday, Tillerson delivered a statement denying that he ever considered abandoning his job as Trump’s top diplomat amid mounting policy disputes with the White House. CAYMAN COMPASS • THURSDAY OCTOBER 5, 2017 Trump meets with victims of Las Vegas concert shooting LAS VEGAS (AP) – Presi- dent Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump met pri- vately with victims of the Las Vegas shooting at a hospital Wednesday, praising them and the doctors who treated them as he visited a city still reeling from the worst gun massacre in modern U.S. history. He also met with first re- sponders who’d been on duty Sunday night, telling them: “You showed the world and the world is watching, and you showed what profession- alism is all about.” Air Force One landed at the airport near the famed Las Vegas strip on a bright, sunny morning just days after a gunman on the 32nd floor of a hotel and casino opened fire on people at an outdoor country music fes- tival below. The Sunday night rampage killed at least 59 people and injured 527, some from gunfire and some from a chaotic escape. Trump’s first stop was the University Medical Center, where he spent 90 minutes meeting privately with vic- tims, their families, and med- ical professionals. Speaking to reporters from the lobby of the Uni- versity Medical Center lobby, Trump said he’d met “some of the most amazing people” – and had extended some invitations to visit him in Washington. He also commended the doctors who’d worked to save them for doing an “inde- scribable” job. “It makes you very proud to be an American when you see the job that they’ve done,” he said. Trump then headed to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Po- lice headquarters, where he met with police officers, dis- patchers, and others who’d responded to the shooting. On his trip from the air- port, the president’s motor- cade drove past the Man- dalay Bay hotel where the gunman fired down into the concert crowd. “It’s a very sad thing. We are going to pay our respects and to see the police who have done really a fantastic job in a very short time,” Trump told reporters before departing the White House. “It’s a very, very sad day for me personally.” On his trip from the air- port, the president’s motor- cade drove past the Man- dalay Bay hotel where the gunman fired down into the concert crowd. Trump’s trip to Las Vegas follows his Tuesday travel to hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico – a pair of back-to-back episodes that are testing his ability to unite and lift the nation in times of strife. During Tuesday’s trip, he highlighted Puerto Rico’s rel- atively low death toll com- pared with “a real catas- trophe like Katrina,” when as many as 1,800 people died in 2005 as levees protecting New Orleans broke. Trump has a long per- sonal connection to Las Vegas – a city where his name is written in huge golden letters atop his hotel. He also cam- paigned extensively across Nevada during his presiden- tial campaign, drawing large crowds to rallies along the Las Vegas Strip. Trump told reporters Tuesday night that his trip would include spending time with “some of the folks that are recovering, some of the survivors,” and seemed emo- tional as he spoke about the human toll. President Trump offered somber remarks about the shooting from the White House on Monday, saying “our unity cannot be shattered by evil, our bonds cannot be broken by violence.” Las Vegas gunman’s girlfriend returns to US for questioning LAS VEGAS (AP) – The Las Vegas gunman’s girlfriend returned to the U.S. over- night after a weeks-long trip abroad and was met by in- vestigators seeking to ques- tion her for clues to what drove Stephen Paddock to slaughter 59 people from his high-rise hotel suite. More than two days after the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, the question of why someone with no known record of vi- olence or crime would open fire on a country music fes- tival was unanswered. Paddock’s girlfriend, Mar- ilou Danley, 62, who was in the Philippines at the time of the Sunday night bloodbath, was met by FBI agents at the Los Angeles airport late Tuesday, according to a law enforcement official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on con- dition of anonymity. Sheriff Joseph Lombardo, who has called Danley a “person of interest” in the at- tack, said on Tuesday that “we anticipate some infor- mation from her shortly” and that he is “absolutely” confi- dent authorities will find out what set off Paddock. The 64-year-old high- stakes gambler and retired accountant from Mesquite, Nevada, killed himself as po- lice closed in on his 32nd- floor room at the Mandalay Bay hotel casino. Danley’s sisters in Aus- tralia said in a TV inter- view there that they believe she could not have known about Paddock’s murderous plans, and that he must have sent her away so she would not interfere. The sisters – whose faces were obscured and their names withheld – said Danley is “a good person” who would have stopped Paddock had she been there. “She probably was even [more] shocked than us be- cause she is more closer to him than us,” said one of the sisters, who live near Brisbane. Whatever Paddock’s mo- tive, authorities said he planned the attack method- ically, not only stockpiling nearly two dozen guns in his hotel room but setting up cameras in the peep- hole and on a service cart outside his door, appar- ently to watch for police coming for him. During the rampage, a hotel security guard who approached the room was shot through the door and wounded in the leg. “The fact that he had the type of weaponry and amount of weaponry in that room, it was pre-planned ex- tensively,” the sheriff said, “and I’m pretty sure he eval- uated everything that he did and his actions, which is troublesome.” FBI Deputy Director An- drew McCabe, speaking at a cybersecurity forum Wednesday in Boston, said investigators are busy “re- constructing the life, the be- havior, the pattern of activity of this individual and anyone and everyone who may have crossed his path in the days and the weeks leading up to this horrific event.” Asked if investigators had determined why Paddock car- ried out the attack, he said, “We are not there yet.” He suggested that was a sur- prise and unusual. “This individual and this attack didn’t leave the sort of immediately accessible thumbprints that you find on some mass casualty at- tacks,” McCabe said. Also Wednesday, President Donald Trump arrived in Las Vegas to meet with public of- ficials, first responders and some of the 527 people in- jured in the attack. At least 45 patients at two hospitals re- mained in critical condition. Paddock had been stock- piling guns since 1982 and bought 33 of them, mostly ri- fles, over the past year alone, right up until three days be- fore the attack, Jill Snyder, an agent with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, told CBS on Wednesday. He had rigged 12 semi- automatic rifles with devices that allowed the guns to fire like an automatic weapon, she said. Authorities previ- ously disclosed that he had such “bump stock” devices with him at the hotel. Snyder said authorities would not have been noti- fied of the rifle purchases but would have been informed if two or more guns were bought at one time. Paddock transferred $100,000 to the Philippines in the days before the shooting, a U.S. official briefed by law enforcement but not autho- rized to speak publicly be- cause of the continuing in- vestigation told the AP on condition of anonymity. Investigators are still trying to trace that money and are also looking into a least a dozen financial re- ports over the past several weeks that said Paddock gambled more than $10,000 per day, the official said. Danley’s sisters in Australia said in a TV interview there that they believe she could not have known about Paddock’s murderous plans, and that he must have sent her away so she would not interfere. Marilou Danley President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump meet on Wednesday with first responders and private citizens who helped during the mass shooting in Las Vegas. – PHOTO: APNext >