SECTION | PAGE ## TITLE FOR THE SPORT/ BUSINESS SKYBOX FRIDAY FEBRUARY 16, 2018 • CAYMAN COMPASS ‘Bruce Lee’ came to town one day Barefoot Man recalls a time when a rumor went viral B5 Concert celebrates cabaret New York talent on local stage B4 Art & Culture Music Lifestyle Loco for Coco Fest ■ EVENTS Patty Griffin in concert The Grammy award-winning singer and songwriter performs on Feb 23. B7 Culture at the Cinema: ‘Romeo and Juliet’ See the live recording of the Bolshoi Ballet’s performance B3 STOLI FLAVOURS2 for $ 56 Until 31 July STOLI FLAVOURS2 for $ 56 Until 31 July STOLI FLAVOURS 2 for $56 Until 31 July STOLI FLAVOURS 2 for $ 56 Until 31 July STOLI FLAVOURS 2 for $56 Until 31 July TEQUILA ROSE Strawberry cream fearlessly combined with an exotic tequila thrill. SAVE $ 9 REGULAR $45.99 NOW $36.99 FEBRUARY ONLY Registered Merchant of CaymanGiftCertificates.com TEQUILA ROSE Celebrating everything coconut at Pedro Castle on Saturday B2 CAYMAN WEEKENDER Patty Griffin in concert EDITORIAL | PAGE 4 DANCING IN THE STREET: A ‘TIP OF THE HAT’ TO OFFICER O’CONNOR High of 86 Low of 75 Moderate with wave heights of 3 to 5 feet. ESTABLISHED 1965 www.caymancompass.com – 75 CENTS – FRIDAY FEBRUARY 16, 2018 8 BUTTERFLY SHRIMP, REG FRIES AND BISCUIT $805$805 STRUGGLE TO FIND SCHOOLING FOR SPECIAL NEEDS CHILDREN JAMES WHITTAKER jwhittaker@pinnaclemedialtd.com Jordan is, in many ways, a regular child. He can read, write and loves run- ning around playing soccer with his friends. But the 6-year-old has a developmental disability that means he learns at a slower pace than his peers and needs speech and occu- pational therapy to keep up. He has been slower to develop emotionally too, and is prone to the occa- sional meltdown, according to his parents Michael and Lexi Binckes. They say his issues are sometimes barely noticeable and always manageable. But they have faced an ongoing struggle to find a mainstream school willing to accept him. When they were told he would not be able to stay at his private school be- yond the first year, they felt like they were out of options. “It is difficult to get WOMAN DIES IN EAST END CAR CRASH JEWEL LEVY AND KEN SILVA jlevy@pinnaclemedialtd.com, ksilva@pinnaclemedialtd.com A 28-year-old woman died and a man was hos- pitalized after a car col- lided with a tree off of Farm Road in East End around 2 a.m. on Thursday. A family member of the deceased confirmed that the woman is Alta- meka Bodden-Price and the man is her husband, Philip Price. According to the Royal Cayman Islands Police Ser- vice, police and emergency services were dispatched to the area in the vicinity of 179 Farm Road, where a Subaru with two occupants had collided with a tree. Both occupants were transported to the Cayman Islands Hospital, where the woman was pro- nounced dead. According to the RCIPS, the man is in stable condition. Farm Road was closed until 10 a.m. on Wednesday while officers investigated the crash site. Police declined to state who was driving the vehicle. Anyone with any information is asked to call the Traffic and Roads Policing Unit at 649-6254. BUTTERFIELD TO ACQUIRE DEUTSCHE BANK BUSINESS KEN SILVA ksilva@pinnaclemedialtd.com The Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son Ltd. announced Thursday that it has entered an agreement to acquire Deutsche Bank’s banking and custody business in the Cayman Islands, Jersey and Guernsey. The terms of the agreement were not dis- closed, but the announcement stated Deutsche Bank clients will have the opportunity to transfer their banking relationships to But- terfield. The announcement also stated Butter- field intends to offer positions to the “majority” of the Deutsche Bank employees available to transfer along with the acquired business, which provides services primarily to financial intermediaries and corporate clients. “We look forward to welcoming Deutsche Bank’s clients to Butterfield, along with the employees who are familiar with their ac- counts, and we are committed to ensuring that their transition to Butterfield is straight- forward and seamless,” stated Butterfield CEO Michael Collins. According to Butterfield, the acquisi- tion could increase its deposit base by about 20 percent. “It will help us establish a foothold in Jersey, an attractive banking market, as well as increasing our scale and market share in Cayman and Guernsey,” Mr. Collins said. “The customer base has a very similar pro- file to our existing banking business and we look forward to welcoming the new rela- tionship teams and their clients to the But- terfield Group.” The transaction is expected to close by the PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 8 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 7 » Cayman flooded with tourists in record January JAMES WHITTAKER jwhittaker@pinnaclemedialtd.com Tourism arrivals continue to soar, with a record-breaking 39,185 visitors touching down at Grand Cayman’s airport in January. The figure is a 24 percent increase on last year and a 14 percent increase on Jan- uary 2015, the previous record. A total of 218,430 cruise passengers also arrived in Cayman last month, an increase of 20 per- cent over January 2017. The influx of tourists is bringing eco- nomic growth to the islands, according to Tourism Minister Moses Kirkconnell. The surge in arrivals has also created some issues, particularly at the airport, where visitors have reported long wait times to get through immigration and cus- toms on weekends. “These are good problems to have,” said Theresa Leacock-Broderick, president of the Cayman Islands Tourism Association. She believes tourists largely understand that the airport is under construction and, so long as it is handled efficiently and con- cerns are dealt with, they are prepared to put up with some inconvenience. “A lot of my guests say it is all worth it once they get here,” said Ms. Leacock-Brod- erick, who runs Plantana condominiums. She said many were repeat visi- tors and they are pleased to see progress at the airport. Ms. Broderick believes the increased ar- rivals come down to a combination of fac- tors, including the fact that the Kimpton Seafire Resort + Spa is up and running, The number of stay-over tourists in Cayman reached a record high in January this year. - PHOTO: TANEOS RAMSAY PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 8 »2 LOCAL&REGIONAL FRIDAY FEBRUARY 16, 2018 • CAYMAN COMPASS West Shore Center, Seven Mile Beach • 10am to 10pm Fresh, Healthy & Delicious! Cayman Cookin’ Over a Wood Fire! Taste why we’re voted “Best”! International Award-Winning Caribbean Chicken! Dine-in! Take-out! Indulge on a feast for 2 to 4 or 6 or more! With an awesome selection of sides to choose from. 945-2290 Estella’s murderers sentenced to 40 years Her murder was unprecedented, chief justice says CAROL WINKER cwinker@pinnaclemedialtd.com Kirkland Henry and Larry Prinston Ricketts were sen- tenced on Thursday after- noon to 40 years in prison for the 2008 murder of rights ac- tivist Estella Scott-Roberts. Chief Justice Anthony Smellie handed down the sentences because he was the one who presided at their judge-alone trial, finding them guilty in February 2010 and sentencing them to life imprisonment, the only penalty prescribed in Cayman at the time. The chief justice said it was difficult to imagine more cruel and depraved treat- ment toward a defenseless woman. Her murder was “un- precedented in these islands,” he said. Mrs. Scott-Roberts was abducted from the car park of a West Bay Road res- taurant on the night of Oct. 10, 2008. She had been at a “girls’ night out” celebration of her 33rd birthday. Mr. Henry was 27 and Mr. Ricketts was 25 at the time. They took her in her own car to a deserted area of Barkers, West Bay. Her mouth was taped and her hands tied. She was raped and robbed. Then she was suffocated by means of a plastic bag forced over her head. Her car was then set on fire with her body in it. She was identified by dental records. The Condi- tional Release Law, which came into force on Feb. 15, 2016, requires a specific sen- tence instead of the inde- terminate “life.” The person convicted of murder must serve that entire sentence be- fore being eligible to apply for release on license. The law sets 30 years as the sen- tence, but provides for aggra- vating or extenuating circum- stances to raise or lower that term if those circumstances are exceptional. The aggravating circum- stances that were exceptional in this case included the planning and premeditation, abduction, the physical and mental suffering inflicted, the attempt to conceal her body and the robbery. In addition, Mr. Henry had taken an inti- mate photo of her and kept it on his phone. Chief Justice Smellie said there were no extenuating circumstances. There was some argu- ment that the men had in- tended to rob Mrs. Scott-Rob- erts and she was killed only when they realized she would be able to identify them. The chief justice rejected this view; he found that the murder was deliberate, not spontaneous. He found that the men acted in concert. The one question raised that had delayed sentencing concerned Mr. Henry’s mental state. Government psychia- trist Dr. Marc Lockhart said Mr. Henry was now suffering from adjustment disorder and delusional psychotic dis- order. Early in his incarcer- ation, however, he had not met the criteria for an antiso- cial disorder. The chief justice indicated he was satisfied that Mr. Henry’s current mental state was not present at the time of the murder. LAWYER: EL CHAPO EAGER TO GO TO TRIAL, NOT CUTTING ANY DEAL NEW YORK (AP) – Noto- rious Mexican drug lord and escape artist Joa- quin “El Chapo” Guzman is eager to go to trial, his lawyer said Thursday after a U.S. judge set Sept. 5 for jury selection in his drug- trafficking case. Defense attorney Ed- uardo Balarezo told re- porters that Guzman wanted to knock down any speculation he might plead guilty and cooperate with American authorities. Guzman “wants to go to trial,” Balarezo said outside federal court in Brooklyn. “He’s not interested in co- operating. He’s not inter- ested in cutting a deal.” The lawyer also re- newed complaints about conditions at a Manhattan jail where Guzman is being held in solitary confine- ment. In Mexico, Guzman twice escaped from prison, the second time via a mile- long tunnel dug to the shower in his cell. The Manhattan cell where Guzman spends 23 hours a day “is either too hot or too cold,” Bala- rezo said, adding that his client suffers “con- stant headaches.” At the hearing, U.S. Dis- trict Judge Brian Cogan denied Guzman’s request to speak in open court about the case after pros- ecutors expressed con- cerns he could be trying to send messages to his co- horts. The judge said that in the future he would need to be notified in ad- vance on what Guzman wanted to talk about before he could speak. Guzman was sent to the United States in 2017 to face charges that his Sinaloa cartel laundered billions of dollars and oversaw a ruth- less campaign of murders and kidnappings. Earlier this month, the judge agreed to with- hold the names of jurors at the trial to address any fears that they could be ha- rassed or intimidated. Ju- rors also will be escorted to and from the courthouse by deputy U.S. marshals and sequestered from the public while inside. Prosecutors offered “strong and credible rea- sons” why the jury needs protection, including Guz- man’s use of sicarios, or hitmen, to carry out thou- sands of acts of violence over more than two decades, the judge wrote in an order. Mexican drug lord Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman is made to face the press as he is escorted to a helicopter in handcuffs by Mexican soldiers in Mexico City in 2016. – PHOTO: AP Estella Scott-Roberts Report: A record 30 million people visited Caribbean despite storms SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) – A record 30 million people vis- ited the Caribbean last year, despite two devastating hur- ricanes that hit a region still struggling to recover, regional tourism officials said Thursday. Visitors spent a record total of $37 billion, up nearly 3 percent compared with the previous year, according to Ryan Skeete, acting research director for the Barbados- based Caribbean Tourism Organization. The majority of visitors came from the United States, and there was a surge of travelers from Canada and Europe. It is the eighth consecu- tive year of growth for the Caribbean, although some islands including St. Lucia and Bermuda saw double- digit increases while others reported a nearly 20 percent drop in visitors after hurri- canes Irma and Maria hit in September, killing dozens of people and causing billions of dollars in damage. The Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association reported that huge numbers of hotels remain closed on islands di- rectly blasted by the storms. Only 40 percent of hotels and rooms are open in the U.S. Virgin Islands, while sev- eral renowned hotels remain closed in Puerto Rico, where more than 400,000 power cus- tomers are still without lights. Officials said the British Virgin Islands has at least five resorts reopening later this year, while a ma- rina and yacht club are ex- pected to reopen next year. At least 85 percent of power has been restored there, al- though some places remain without water. Some 40 percent of hotel rooms have reopened in Dominica, which received a direct hit from Hurricane Maria, while 10 attractions in Anguilla remain closed, including several cays, and the main international air- port is operating only during daylight hours. In the Dutch Caribbean territory of St. Maarten, which was hit by Hurricane Irma, some 36 hotels remain closed and only 64 percent of sea-based activities are op- erating. Officials said airport service is still limited. Hugh Riley, secretary gen- eral of the Caribbean Tourism Organization, noted that the sector employs 14 per- cent of the Caribbean’s pop- ulation and represents any- where from 7 percent to more than 80 percent of various is- lands economies. Officials said last year brought another milestone – a record 27 million cruise ship passengers – and they esti- mate that overall visits and cruise arrivals will increase by up to 3 percent this year. Royal Caribbean International’s Explorer of the Seas is docked at Charlotte Amalie Harbor in St. Thomas, U. S. Virgin Islands. – PHOTO: APThe islands’ most-trusted news source 3 CAYMAN COMPASS • FRIDAY FEBRUARY 16, 2018 BrandSource Home Gallery and InsideOut magazine have teamed up to offer one lucky reader a chance to win a $5,000 shopping excursion to take your bath from drab to fab! Create a pampering retreat with distinctive European design that makes a statement. BrandSource Home Gallery features four inspiring brands: Duravit, Palazzanni, Isenberg and Design Element. The prize package can be applied to design and products – all from BrandSource Home Gallery. Refresh your bath! $5,000 PRIZE PACKAGE Enter to win to create your customized dream bath Home Gallery Deadline for submission is March 1, 2018. Enter online at CaymanCompass.com/contests or simply visit BrandSource Home Gallery in Industrial Park. Bath Fixtures | Vanities | Showers | Tubs | Basins | Toilets | FaucetsThe 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. To some, the Terpsichorean muse – the mythical Greek goddess that inspires dance – beckons almost irresistibly. “Dancing policeman” Fabian O’Connor may be one of those fortunate souls. Indeed, Officer O’Connor has boogied into the hearts of tourists and residents alike, with his lively traffic direction ensuring smooth flow of pedestrians and automobiles on George Town’s busy waterfront intersections. (We know, it’s not, by definition, dancing, but it sure is cousin-close to choreography.) With his crisp white gloves and good-natured dis- position, Officer O’Connor is upbeat and unflappable (a survival quality for someone standing in the middle of George Town intersections). May we be the first to nominate him as a worthy ambassador of these islands? “Instead of shouting at them, you have to give them the action, a little flavor and a beautiful Cayman smile,” he told the Compass of the flocks he safely shepherds across the lanes of traffic. “They love it, and they proceed with the instruction.” His self-described philosophy, of “safety first, enter- tainment second, and respect for everyone at all times” is good advice for all of us: People are attracted to, and respond to, positive people. Genuine smiles are among the most underrated tools of success. If only Officer O’Connor could bring his whistle, white gloves and “people moving” skills a few paces inland to the Legislative Assembly, where the Compass is encouraging Cayman’s lawmakers to address our antiquated and obsolescent Music and Dance (Control) Law. Who can forget (we know Tourism Minister Moses Kirkconnell would like to) this past New Year’s Eve, which fell on a Sunday, and, therefore, fell afoul of the above-mentioned statute. The result, of course, was that thousands of tourists in Cayman for the holidays were relegated to sitting on the sidelines of many a dance floor, waiting for the clock to tick 12:01 a.m. and the rock and rollin’ to begin. Local restaurateurs, hoteliers, club owners and musicians on what should have been one of their busiest nights of the year were victims as well – finan- cial victims. Now is the ideal time for legislators to act, while the issue still is fresh in people’s minds, but with plenty of time (four years, 10 months, two weeks and a day – to be exact) before the no-Sunday dancing rule again threatens New Year’s Eve festivities. We have heard the Cayman Ministers’ Associa- tion’s concerns about the potential disruptions to Cayman’s traditional Sabbath day. We have heard the wistful nostalgia of those who fondly remember quieter “olden times.” While we respect those views, allowing entertain- ment venues to – well, entertain – their guests on Sundays need not infringe on anyone’s choice to spend their Sundays in peaceful religious reflection – or in euphonious choral celebrations in church. It simply rec- ognizes the rights of everyone else. For example, Cayman’s robust community of Seventh-day Adventists observes the Sabbath on Saturday, with no perceivable ill effects from the lack of governmental restrictions on music, dancing or alcohol among the general public on that day. It also acknowledges the evolving nature of our islands. When the law was instituted decades ago, Cayman did not play host to millions of visitors each year. Nor did it serve as a home to residents of all faiths and backgrounds from all over the globe. Any remnant concerns about the dangers of dancing on Sunday could be addressed in carefully crafted legislation. There is no reason that dancing and worshipping cannot peacefully coexist on Sundays, as they do in so many places around the world. But that is not the note we want to close on. A far better one is to applaud Officer O’Connor and acknowl- edge the extra ray of sunshine he brings to those who visit our shores. Dancing in the street: A ‘tip of the hat’ to Officer O’Connor FRIDAY FEBRUARY 16, 2018 • CAYMAN COMPASS Tax and financial sharing among governments Should one democracy have the right to impose its tax laws on another? With which countries, if any, should the U.S. government share your tax and other fi- nancial information? In recent years, some of the most contentious disputes among friendly countries have involved the U.S. attempting to force citizens of, and insti- tutions in, other countries to provide tax and other finan- cial information to the IRS. At the same time, the U.S. has resisted providing similar fi- nancial information to foreign governments for a number of very good reasons, including constitutional protections. Global socialist and big- government groups that favor higher taxes have been pushing the U.N., the OECD, and other international orga- nizations to force countries to abolish virtually all financial privacy protections for their citizens and institutions. The U.S., Switzerland, and the U.K. (including its off- shore dependencies) are some of the least corrupt countries in the world, with relatively small “black or grey” econo- mies; yet, the TJN and its al- lies want these jurisdictions to share information with countries which have much higher levels of corruption. Like trying to buy protec- tion from the Mafia, the TJN is asking organizations, such as the U.N. – with many de- cades of its own corruption scandals, – to help implement more information sharing. Many advocates of more tax and financial sharing among governments argue that the need for more govern- ment revenue trumps financial privacy and other civil liber- ties concerns. The fact is al- most all governments tax and spend more than is the op- timum for economic growth, long-run revenue realization, and the general welfare. Why is it that non-resource rich jurisdictions like Singapore, Hong Kong and Switzerland get along perfectly well with smaller than average sized governments and are more prosperous than almost all big government states? The same phenomena can be seen within the U.S. Forty years ago, California was rel- atively far richer than Texas, although it is not today, and New York was relatively far richer than Florida. Nei- ther Texas or Florida has a state income tax, while Cal- ifornia and New York have double-digit rates for upper- income people. Rather than make California and New York richer, the high-income rates have served to moti- vate many wealthy and ac- complished people to move to low-tax states which get along perfectly well without an income tax. Many high-tax advocates are in denial about the dis- incentive effect of high tax rates. These high-tax advo- cates also ignore the fact that rapid advances in informa- tion technology enable infor- mation workers to live any- where in the world – making it more and more difficult to tax income at very high rates. Some decades ago Edwin Cohen, who had been under- secretary of the Treasury for tax, and a professor at the University of Virginia law school, told me that at some point the tax system would collapse as it became more difficult to define “income.” The tools we use to mea- sure much economic activity and the tax base were devel- oped during the 1930s for a very different economy. Few improvements have been made. The well-known econ- omist Mark Skousen noticed that a measure of gross output gave better information about swings in economic activity than the standard measure of gross domestic output, and he made a concerted push to get the government to publish it on a regular basis, which they are now doing. But this vic- tory is only a small part of the greatly needed overhaul of the entire government economic information systems. A major side effect of the new self-driving cars is an ex- pected huge drop in automo- bile related deaths. Yet, most of this benefit, worth hun- dreds of billions of dollars, will not be captured with the present NIA system. Little of the trillions of dollars in value of all of the informa- tion and tools that billions of people have with their smart- phones has been captured in our economic statistics. Governments are not ca- pable of moving fast enough to provide much of the eco- nomic information people re- ally need. The private sector will find ways of providing real information needs. Rather than criminalize the financial activities of foreigners who are obeying their own countries laws, and enact more self-de- feating rules in the increas- ingly elusive quest to define “income,” government fiscal agents should concentrate on only attempting to tax part of consumption. Change will only occur when more opinion leaders understand the real prob- lems and the construc- tive solutions – a not insur- mountable task. Richard W. Rahn is chairman of Improbable Success Productions and on the board of the American Council for Capital Formation. © 2018 The Washington Times, LLC. RICHARD W. RAHN RICHARD W. RAHN 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”The islands’ most-trusted news source 5 CAYMAN COMPASS • FRIDAY FEBRUARY 16, 2018 6 LOCAL NEWS FRIDAY FEBRUARY 16, 2018 • CAYMAN COMPASS ‘There is no way to walk away from this’ JAMES WHITTAKER jwhittaker@pinnaclemedialtd.com Five-year-old Kelana Myles plays in the dusty front yard outside the ramshackle timber home she shares with her mother and grandfather in central George Town. A display of Christmas lights, still hanging from the rafters in early February, cannot disguise the build- ing’s decrepit state. In one room, the roof has come down, there is mold throughout, and at the rear of the property, sewage leaks from a backed-up pipe. “There is no way to turn around and walk away from this,” said Tara Nielsen of Acts of Random Kindness as she surveyed the prop- erty last week. The nonprofit organiza- tion plans to put funding and resources toward helping home owner Treasan Myles, Kelana’s mother, renovate her home and fix some potential health hazards. “My grandmother built this house way back,” Ms. Myles said. “I grew up here and I’ve lived here all my life,” she said. “Whenever I get paid, I buy some boards and I fix it up.” Both she and her fa- ther work full-time jobs but keeping up with the cost of raising a child and man- aging the repairs has become unmanageable. “I won’t take out a loan, because I have seen people do that then they can’t pay and they lose their home,” she said. “I would probably get a different place if I could, but this is what I have.” The Myles home is one of many rundown premises clustered in mini neighbor- hoods off Eastern Avenue and Shedden Road. Tara Nielsen, who runs ARK, said the state of the property and concerns for the child, as well as the fact that Ms. Myles is in steady employment and doing every- thing she can to help herself, make this one a priority. She said the Myles’ home would be put into ARK’s “Cayman Casa” pro- gram, which connects local companies to families in need and puts their labor and resources to work on home renovations. The first priority will be to sort out the plumbing, amid concerns it could be a health hazard. Ms. Nielsen said the charity had enough funds to begin working on that immediately. “There is a major sewage issue that permeates the home, garden and sleeping quarters,” she said. “The floors, walls and ceilings are collapsing throughout the home. The bathrooms do not function properly. You can see the ground through the floor. The appliances do not work and it is ridden with mold. There is no clean and safe place for the little child to play, sleep and grow. “We need to have someone go through the house and identify the key problems. We will sort out the plumbing and then we will work down the list of priorities.” ARK gets recommenda- tions from the community for its projects and follows up with a home inspection and interview with the family. Phillip Richter, director of community service for the Rotaract Club of Grand Cayman, said he had been alerted to the state of the home by a community ac- tivist in the area. “When I went to the property, I was in disbe- lief that people, let alone a family, lived in these condi- tions,” he said. He got in touch with ARK to see if the charity could help. “What struck me about this whole situation is that I’ve driven past the entrance to the property for over 20 years and had no idea people lived back there. Nothing against the area, I just did not know, but it makes me wonder if there are more families living in these condi- tions around the island that are tucked away.” He said he was con- cerned that there were many more homes in similar con- dition but was inspired that ARK had been able to help so quickly in this case. Ms. Nielsen said concerns for the health and safety of children are paramount when it takes on a project. “We are a small charity and we can only take on a few projects. We would love to be able to do more,” she said. ARK has been selected as the charity that will ben- efit from the proceeds of this year’s 5K Irish Jog, organized by Butterfield Bank and the Dart group, and Ms. Nielsen urged people to take part. “We need the commu- nity to step up and think about this beautiful 5-year- old child. They are not asking for the world, just a clean, healthy, safe environment to live in,” she said. This year’s Irish Jog will start at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, March 16. Registration details can be found on www.ky.butterfieldgroup.com. To help ARK, contact taranielsen@arkcayman.com. ARK’s Tara Nielsen walks through the Myles family home off Shedden Road last week. - PHOTOS: JAMES WHITTAKER Charity workers with Acts of Random Kindness met with Treasan Myles and her daughter Kelana, 5, on the doorstep of their George Town home last week. Three car fires reported over Valentine’s Day The Cayman Islands Royal Police Service reported three vehicle fires on Valentine’s Day. Shortly after 1:20 a.m., a car fire was reported in Bodden Town on Kris An- derson Way. The Cayman Islands Fire Service extin- guished the fire. No damage to other property nor any in- juries were reported. About 3 a.m., a ve- hicle was found on fire in a parking lot on School Road in George Town. A nearby building had minor damage as a result of the fire, which was extinguished by the fire service. No injuries were re- ported, police said. And on Josephs Drive in West Bay, just after 12:30 p.m., a third vehicle fire was reported. Fire officials extin- guished the fire and no inju- ries were reported. The George Town fire was determined to have been caused by an electrical fault in the vehicle. The other two fires are under investigation and police are appealing for any witnesses to contact their local police station. None of the fires involved cars belonging to police offi- cials – two cars belonging to a senior officer were torched in George Town Feb. 4 – and a police spokesman said there is no suspected con- nection between the fires. POLICE APPEAL FOR WITNESSES IN SPOTTS DROWNING Police are appealing for wit- nesses to a possible drowning off Spotts Beach. The incident occurred on Monday, Feb. 12. The Royal Cayman Is- lands Police Service issued the appeal Thursday, asking for anyone who may have seen the man enter the water to contact police. When police arrived at the scene, around 12:40 p.m. on Monday, they found a 65-year-old man from the United States unrespon- sive and out of the water. Police, paramedics and members of the public tried to resuscitate the man. He was taken to the Cayman Islands Hospital and pronounced dead. Anyone with information is asked to call the George Town Police Station at 949-4222. The kitchen at the Myles home. Two of the fires are under investigation and police are appealing for any witnesses to contact their local police station.The islands’ most-trusted news source 7 CAYMAN COMPASS • FRIDAY FEBRUARY 16, 2018 a child in any school in Cayman because there are more children than spaces – that’s the first problem,” Mrs. Binckes said. “The second problem is when you have a kid that needs some special help. Then you’ve got no chance.” Jordan’s situation is not unique. The Special Needs Foun- dation of the Cayman Islands estimates that 1,400 local children have some kind of learning disability. It says children with spe- cial needs are routinely de- nied admission to schools. If they are admitted, there is often no support for their learning needs, and they are left to fail. Though some are ca- tered for by specialist insti- tutions, like the Lighthouse School and Hope Academy, many more flounder with limited support in main- stream classrooms. Others stay at home with a helper and have little ac- cess to formal education at all, according to Susie Bodden, executive leader of the foundation. “This is a section of the population that is extremely under-served in the Cayman Islands at the moment. “There are many chil- dren not receiving the quality of education they could be,” she said. The foundation has begun a fundraising campaign and transformed its mission from advocacy to direct action in an effort to better address the problems. With support from the Washington state-based Haring Center for Research and Training in Inclusive Education, it had developed a program to bring new methods to Cayman’s schools. It plans to hire a team of specialists, including full- time staff and consultants, to work with schools and help them adapt their teaching methods to ensure that even children with severe learning disabilities can thrive in mainstream classrooms. The foundation is also opening its own headquarters, Our House, on Godfrey Nixon Way in March as a central hub and training center. “The ultimate vision is that every school, play school, day care center in Cayman accepts special needs children and provides them appropriate and ad- equate support,” said Nik Tatarkin, who took over as chair of the foundation’s board in October. Mr. Tatarkin’s company Wheaton Precious Metals has signed on as a seed donor, committing $160,000 a year for the next three years. The foundation, which has relaunched its web- site and is seeking sponsors for its programs, ultimately hopes to raise $1.8 million to fund the first three years of a long-term project, equip- ping and supporting schools to better serve children with special needs. Mr. Tatarkin, whose own daughter Jana, 10, has a learning disability and at- tends Hope Academy, said the aim was for government, private schools and the pri- vate sector to work together. He added, “No successful example exists where govern- ment does this alone. The pri- vate sector can step up and help government do it better.” He said four schools, two public and two private, had expressed interest in being involved in the pilot program. “Our plan is to employ in- clusion specialists to go into schools and review their sys- tems, policies and ethos and do a lot of professional devel- opment,” Ms. Bodden said. She said schools were often anxious about taking on children with unusual syndromes because they did not know how to deal with it. “They are very nice about it but they say, ‘I don’t think we are the most suitable place for your child.’ The trouble is there is no more suitable place,” she said. Ms. Bodden said de- cades of research showed that keeping children with learning disabilities in main- stream classrooms was better for the child and better for their peers, both academi- cally and socially. She said training schools to cater to special needs kids would give principals and admissions staff more confi- dence to accept children with lower IQs or with learning disabilities. “The first step is for the children with learning dif- ficulties who are already in mainstream schools to get a better deal,” she said, “then, hopefully, for the schools to be less anxious about taking some of these other little ones.” For Mr. and Mrs. Binckes, a change in approach cannot come soon enough. The experience of being asked to leave the private school after being on the waiting list for years left them feeling let down. “We did everything we could in terms of therapists and it seemed like they were not willing to do their part. They are not prepared to help special needs kids at all, it seemed like it was too much effort,” Mr. Binckes said. The couple say they were lucky to find a place for Jordan at Grace Chris- tian Academy in West Bay, where he is thriving in a reg- ular classroom. “The principal there un- derstands special needs and they have been brilliant with him, but I know that is not the case for a lot of kids,” Mr. Binckes said. Carien Harcombe has had a similar experience trying to find a school for her child, Jamie, who has Down syndrome. After prolonged efforts, including moving away from the island for a spell, they were able to find a good day care center, Tiny Tots, that was equipped to take her without specialist help. But once she graduated, there was no school pre- pared to take her. “There was no space at the Lighthouse School and we were going to have to home school her or send her to pri- vate school, which wasn’t an option because there aren’t any equipped to take her,” Ms. Harcombe said. Eventually, she said, Tiny Tots agreed to take Jamie, now 6, until a place opened up at the Lighthouse School in January. “That is the right place for her at the moment,” she said. “She is non verbal and there are a couple of skills she needs to work on in that environment.” Ms. Harcombe, who is also a member of the National Council for Persons with Dis- abilities, believes a more in- clusive approach from main- stream schools will help free up places at specialist schools for children with more severe disabilities. Ms. Bodden said it was understandable that schools were anxious about teaching special needs children, if they do not have the training or the resources. “I think the biggest thing is the fear of the unknown. They are worried they will get children they don’t know how to handle,” she said. “Our new project is de- signed to get them that sup- port. We are not asking them to take a child with an un- usual syndrome without help. We will give them the knowl- edge and practical skills.” To find out more or to donate funds, visit www.specialneedsfoundation.ky. Struggle to find schooling for special needs children CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Carien Harcombe had trouble finding school space for her daughter Jamie until a place opened at the Lighthouse School. Tense times in US-Turkey relations as officials huddle ANKARA, Turkey (AP) – The specter of a U.S.-Turkish clash in Syria loomed over Thursday’s meeting between the top American diplomat and Turkey’s leader as the two NATO allies scrambled to ease some of their worst tensions in years. Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is fuming over U.S. assistance to Kurdish fighters near his country’s border. The talks with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson were to focus on Washington’s plan to con- tinue providing the Kurdish militants assistance and Turkey’s military opera- tions in Kurdish areas of northern Syria. The discussions were ex- pected to cover several pro- posals for improving cooper- ation along the border area. It’s been a flash point over the years for Turkish-Kurdish tensions, al-Qaida and Is- lamic State fighters traveling back and forth, and incidents involving major powers in- cluding Russia. Reflecting the sensitivity of the talks between Tillerson and Erdogan, only Turkish Foreign Minister Melvut Ca- vusoglu, serving as trans- lator, also was included in the meeting, which lasted more than three hours. Nei- ther side would discuss the session afterward. When Tillerson returned to his hotel, he was asked by reporters whether he could provide some detail. “Not to- night, we’re still working,” he said. Tillerson and Cavusoglu planned a news conference Friday after their meeting. Tillerson, finishing a five- nation Middle East trip, said earlier in the day in Lebanon that U.S. and Turkey share common goals in Syria. “There’s no gap between them,” he told reporters in Beirut. “We have some differ- ences about tactically how to achieve that endpoint objec- tive, but our objectives are to defeat ISIS, to defeat ter- rorism, to reduce the vio- lence, protect people and support a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Syria.” In Brussels, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said the United States and Turkey are in open dialog about their differences. Turkey’s defense minister was among those he met at NATO. “I believe we are finding common ground and there are areas of uncommon ground where sometimes war just gives you bad alternatives to choose from,” Mattis said. Turkey is livid over Amer- ica’s military support for the Kurdish-led Syrian Demo- cratic Forces. The U.S. con- siders them the most ef- fective fighting force in the battle to defeat IS in Syria, and this week offered a budget plan that would send them the bulk of $550 million in new assistance. Turkey considers the fighters a terrorist group and an extension of a Kurdish insurgency in Turkey and views the U.S. military sup- port for the Kurds in Syria as a top security threat. Turkey’s military campaign against Kurds in northern Syria has alarmed the U.S. leaders who have watched as the fighting has sapped energy from the fight against remaining IS strongholds. Turkey’s defense minister, Nurettin Canikli, said in Brussels he has asked that the U.S. end its assis- tance to Kurdish fighters and remove them from the SDF. Canikli said he told Mattis that U.S. support for such militants has enabled Kurdish rebels in Turkey “to grow and strengthen,” posing an increasingly “existential” danger to Turkey. Canikli said he presented documents to Mattis proving “organic” links between the Kurdish fighters in Syria and Kurdish rebels in Turkey. It was an “absolutely open and honest dialogue,” Mattis said, describing the two countries as “coming together on what we can do together.” According to Canikli, Mattis said the U.S. believes it is possible to ensure that the Kurdish forces in Syria turn against Kurdish rebels fighting in Turkey. Can- ikli said he rejected this as- sumption, insisting it was “impossible and unrealistic” for the two entities to go against each other. The Turkish minister also reported Mattis as saying the U.S. was developing plans to take back weapons supplied to the Syrian Kurds. Turkey has been attacking the Kurds in northern Syria for the past three weeks, de- spite American calls for re- straint. The standoff has fueled increasingly angry rhetoric, including Erdogan’s warning that Turkey’s foes may feel “the Ottoman slap,” a reference to the Ottoman Empire’s onetime might. Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson shake hands before their talks at the presidential palace in Ankara, Turkey, Thursday. – PHOTO: APThe islands’ most-trusted news source 8 FRIDAY FEBRUARY 16, 2018 • CAYMAN COMPASS The family of the late Darleen Elgin ConollyDarleen Elgin Conolly Would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to the many who visited, called, sent or delivered cards and fl owers as well as offered their support and prayers to us during our time of sorrow. Special thanks to: The Department of Children & Family Services, Kirkconnell Community Care Centre–Cayman Brac, FLOW, Dr. Steve Tomlinson & Churchill’s Funeral Home. With love and appreciation from Wardley, Tasha, Jan and Aidan. May God Continue to Bless You All. Today would have been your 26th birthday And so We remember the fond memories but cannot forget ALL the ‘Nevers’ Forever in our hearts and on our minds… Your mom and dad, sister and brother-in-law, niece and nephew, aunts, uncles cousins and friends Michael Gourzong We have been asked to announce the passing of Mr. Atwood Junior Ebanks of West Bay, who passed away on Saturday February 10, 2018. A Graveside Service will be held on Sunday, February 18, 2018 at 3:00p.m. at the Boatswain Bay Cemetery, off King Road, West Bay. We have been asked to announce the passing of Mr. Atwood Junior Ebanks of West Bay, who passed away on Saturday February 10, 2018. A Graveside Service will be held on Sunday, February 18, 2018 at 3:00p.m. at the Boatswain Bay Cemetery, off King Road, West Bay. We have been asked to announce the passing of Condolences can be registered at: www.churchillsfuneralhome.com The family of the Late Marguerite V. Rankin regrets to announce her passing on Saturday, 10 February, 2018. Condolences can be registered at www.boddenfuneralservices.com & Bodden Funeral Service Facebook page A funeral service will be held 2:00 p.m. Saturday, 24 February 2018 at Church of God, Chapel, viewing will be from 1:00 p.m. prior to the service Interment will follow in Dixie Cemetery. the improved economy in the U.S., and the fact that Cayman is now Zika free. “There is definitely more to it than the hurricanes that affected other islands. We are expecting a very robust season,” she said. The rising tourism fig- ures are driven largely by growth in the U.S. market. Visitation figures from the U.S. were up significantly from the West Coast (63 per- cent), the Southwest (47 per- cent) and the Midwest (27 percent). The number of vis- itors from Canada was also up by 13 percent, while the smaller Latin American market also showed signifi- cant double digit gains. “Continued increases in visitation are evidence that the state of our tourism industry is strong,” Mr. Kirkconnell said. “I am optimistic that if we continue this path, 2018 will be another record- breaking year for arrivals and that the Cayman Islands will benefit from economic growth that all can be proud of. I applaud the Department of Tourism and all tourism partners for their continued contributions to this vi- brant industry.” The Department of Tourism says it expects car- nival season to drive further growth over the next few months. It also hopes to at- tract new visitors to the is- lands with its “Summer Only in Cayman” promotion, which offers food-themed visits for families, including a “fourth night free” at partner hotels. end of the year, according to Butterfield filings with the U.S. Securities and Ex- change Commission. Butterfield’s planned ac- quisition comes about four months after the bank an- nounced that it would be acquiring Deutsche Bank’s Global Trust Solutions busi- ness, which comprises some 1,000 trust structures for roughly 900 clients. That ac- quisition did not include the Global Trust Solutions U.S. operations, and the terms of the agreement also were not disclosed. Butterfield stated on Wednesday that more than 90 percent of the Deutsche Bank staff that were involved in that transaction have ac- cepted employment agree- ments with Butterfield, and that the acquisition is ex- pected to be completed by the end of the second quarter. “The acquisition of Deutsche Bank’s Global Trust Solutions business an- nounced in October will pro- vide Butterfield with a Singa- pore trust company. We have long had an interest in estab- lishing operations in Singa- pore to support the growth of our legacy Trust business in Asia,” Mr. Collins said. “And with this banking transac- tion, we will gain a pres- ence in Jersey to complement our existing Guernsey-based Channel Islands bank, giving us increased scale and the opportunity to re- alize operational economies in the region.” Butterfield also an- nounced its financial results for 2017, reporting net in- come of US$153.3 million for the year – up from US$115.9 million in 2016. “I am pleased to report that Butterfield achieved re- cord profits in 2017,” Mr. Collins stated in the earn- ings announcement. “These strong results were driven by our specialized banking and wealth management busi- nesses that generate consis- tent fee income, and an ex- panding net interest margin that benefited from our effi- cient deposit franchise and a rising rate environment.” Butterfield to acquire Deutsche Bank business CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Cayman flooded with tourists in record January CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 The influx of tourists is bringing economic growth to the islands, according to Tourism Minister Moses Kirkconnell. Myanmar government cracks down on journalists BANGKOK (AP) – When five Myanmar journalists were sentenced to decade-long prison terms for reporting the alleged existence of a mil- itary-run chemical weapons factory in Myanmar a few years ago, Aung San Suu Kyi – then an opposition lawmaker – condemned the harsh pun- ishments as “very excessive.” The journalists, from the now-defunct Unity publica- tion, had been convicted for violating the nation’s Official Secrets Act – the same colo- nial-era law now being lev- eled against a pair of Reuters reporters who are facing a staggering 14 years be- hind bars each. “It’s not that I don’t accept a concern over national secu- rity,” Suu Kyi told supporters during a July 2014 rally, ac- cording to an article pub- lished at the time in the Ir- rawaddy, a local media outlet. “But in a democratic system, security should be in balance with freedom.” When “the rights of jour- nalists [to report] are being controlled,” Suu Kyi said, the very notion of demo- cratic reform in Myanmar is “questionable.” Three and a half years on, the thinking of Suu Kyi, who now heads the government, has apparently changed dra- matically. Rather than cham- pion the press, she has pre- sided over an administration whose courts have aggres- sively pursued legal charges against dozens of journal- ists, along with other at- tempts to suppress and dis- credit the media. Police arrested Reuters re- porters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo on Dec. 12 while they were investigating the mas- sacre of 10 ethnic Rohingya Muslims in the village of Inn Din by the Myanmar mili- tary and Buddhist villagers. The Reuters story included photos provided by a Bud- dhist village elder of the 10 captives lined up in a row, kneeling, and later of their bloodied bodies in a shallow grave. The reporters fur- ther supported their account with testimony from Bud- dhist villagers who confessed to burying bodies and killing Muslims, and also from secu- rity personnel and the para- military police themselves. But when former U.N. am- bassador Bill Richardson met Nobel Peace prize lau- reate Suu Kyi this month and brought up the case against the Reuters reporters, it “brought almost an explosion on her part,” Richardson said. Suu Kyi’s spokesman, Zaw Htay, has said that Rich- ardson exceeded his man- date by bringing up the issue. Richardson had been invited to the country to participate in an advisory panel on the Rohingya crisis; he withdrew, calling it a “whitewash.” Htay did not answer his cellphone when AP attempted to reach him several times Wednesday for comment. Hostility against the media, particularly interna- tional news agencies covering Myanmar, has risen markedly since a brutal army “clear- ance” operation began in Au- gust immediately after Ro- hingya insurgents staged an unprecedented wave of at- tacks. More than 700,000 Rohingya, a persecuted mi- nority widely despised by the nation’s Buddhist majority, have been driven into Ban- gladesh since. Suu Kyi’s government has routinely denied atroci- ties and staunchly defended the military’s actions, por- traying critical media reports as “fake news.” Myanmar journalist Thet Oo Maung, known as Wa Lone, right, stands with other journalists with their mouths taped, symbolizing the government’s crackdown on media, in Yangon, Myanmar. – PHOTO: APThe islands’ most-trusted news source 9 CAYMAN COMPASS • FRIDAY FEBRUARY 16, 2018 The experience stays with you © 2018 PricewaterhouseCoopers, a Cayman Islands partnership. All rights reserved. Over 3,000 hours of summer work experience Professional exam support Internships Local and overseas scholarships Talent, hard work & opportunity You bring the first two, we’ll take care of the rest! College, Careers and Coffee Join our College, Careers and Coffee session to find out if our Career Discovery Programme is right for you. You’ll chat with our team, get a feel for where we work, learn about our valuable support and understand how you can work with industry leaders to solve important problems. The opportunity of a lifetime starts here! Register by March 5th by visiting: www.pwc.com/ky/careers www.pwc.com/ky/careersNext >