ESTABLISHED 1965 www.caymancompass.com – 50 CENTS – MONDAY AUGUST 13, 2018 High of 90 Low of 78 Slight to moderate with wave heights of 2 to 4 feet. EDITORIAL | PAGE 4 A FAILING GRADE FOR CAYMAN’S DRIVERS’ TESTS LOCAL | PAGE 2 ROAD OPENING MARKS STEP TOWARD CUTTING COMMUTE TIMES SEVEN MILE BEACH WATERFRONT WALKERS ROAD TOWN CENTRE PLAZA RED BAY JAMES WHITTAKER jwhittaker@pinnaclemedialtd.com Since she was a little girl, Caitlin Tyson has dreamed of winning Miss Cayman. The model and aspiring actress made that dream come true Saturday night in front of a large and en- thusiastic crowd at the Westin resort. Ms. Tyson, 24, receives a $70,000 scholar- ship from the Ministry of Tourism and the chance to represent the Cayman Islands at the Miss Universe pageant in Thailand. “It hasn’t sunk in yet. It has been a dream for so long and now it is my reality. It’s just crazy,” she said after being presented the crown by reigning queen Anika Conolly. For the seven contestants, getting ready for Saturday’s pageant involved 10 weeks of intense preparations. There were dance rehearsals, weekly sessions on public speaking with the Toastmas- ters club, etiquette lessons, brushing up on current affairs and runway training. “It’s been a lot of work, a lot of dedica- tion,” Ms. Tyson said. “It has been an emotional journey with a lot of ups and downs but we have all gone through it together. There has been no competi- tion; we have all helped each other through it.” She said performing in front of friends and family was the most nerve-racking aspect of the contest. Throughout the night, the lively crowd roared on their favorite contestants, waving pictures and numbers and blowing horns to show their support. “The energy was amazing. Everyone came out to support us,” said Ms. Tyson, who also had friends from New York fol- lowing on a live stream. “I have done some modeling and some performing in New York but being back home in front of everyone you love is a different experience.” Brac incinerator fixed, but George Town’s now broken Half-year budget surplus reported at $201 million KEN SILVA ksilva@pinnaclemedialtd.com The incinerator at the Cayman Brac landfill is back up and running after being in disrepair for nearly four months – a situation that led to untreated medical waste being dumped in an open trench there, in violation of public health regulations. However, the incinerator at the George Town landfill is now broken, according to the Department of Environ- mental Health. But unlike on the Brac, medical waste is being stored on roll-off containers instead of being dumped untreated. Internal correspondence obtained via an open re- cords request details the De- partment of Environmental Health’s struggles to keep both incinerators running over the last several months. After the Brac incinerator BRENT FULLER bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com The Cayman Islands government has a lot more money in the bank than it thought it would by June 30. However, the budget year was only half over at the time and the leaner months of the late summer and fall are now facing the British Overseas Territory. In a half-year fiscal re- port released Friday, pro- duced for the first time by government officials, Cayman boasted an oper- ating surplus of $201.1 mil- lion between Jan. 1 and June 30 – about $67 million higher than expected. The primary reason for the larger surplus was higher-than-expected tax revenues through June. For instance, stamp duties levied on land sales were about $15 million more than PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 8 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 8 » Caitlin Tyson crowned Miss Cayman 2018 PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 6 » Cailtin Tyson stands before the crowd at the Westin, as she wears the Miss Cayman Islands Universe crown for the first time. - PHOTO: TANEOS RAMSAY2 LOCAL&REGIONAL MONDAY AUGUST 13, 2018 • CAYMAN COMPASS • Matinees Daily (matinee price before 6pm) • Seniors $8.00, Mon-Fri Before 6pm • Additional charges apply per 3D/VIP tickets Cayman Cinema@cbcinema6cbcinema6 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. - MONDAY - 640-FILM (640-3456) THE SPY WHO DUMPED ME (R) 1:35 I 4:20 I 7:10 I 9:50 BLACKKKLANSMAN (R) 12:35 I 3:35 I 6:35 I 9:35 MISSION : IMPOSSIBLE FALLOUT (PG13) 12:35 3D I 3:35 VIP I 6:40 I 9:25 VIP THE EQUALIZER 2 (R) 1:00 I 3:50 I 6:45 I 9:40 THE MEG (PG13) 1:00 VIP I 3:45 3D I 6:50 VIP I 9:50 TEEN TITANS GO! TO THE MOVIES (PG) 2:30 I 4:45 MAMMA MIA! HERE WE GO AGAIN (PG13) 7:00 I 9:40 Dr. Wayne R. Porter MD F.A.A.D. Dermatologist call : 946-9020 between 9am to 5pm Dees Plaza #282 on Crewe Road, GT He will be in office from August 11th - August 16th, 2018 Road opening marks step toward cutting commute times JAMES WHITTAKER jwhittaker@pinnaclemedialtd.com The $10.6 million dollar first phase of the Lin- ford Pierson Highway wid- ening project is now com- plete and could help slash commute times in half, ac- cording to National Roads Authority officials. The expansion of the mile-long stretch of highway, between the Silver Oaks roundabout and a new roundabout at Agnes Way, took just over two years and involved the relo- cation of two homes. In total government spent $7.1 million on con- struction and $3.5 million on compensating people whose land was taken for the project. It is part of an ongoing effort to upgrade Grand Cayman’s road net- work to cope with signifi- cant increases in traffic as the population has grown in the past two decades. Officials are finalizing negotiations on land ac- quisitions for phase two of the Linford Pierson project, which will expand the road to four lanes right through to the intersection with Bobby Thompson Way in George Town. An impasse between gov- ernment and the owners of a horse riding school over plans to route part of the road through its land had been holding up progress on that aspect of the highway expansion. Infrastructure Minister Joey Hew said he believed the National Roads Authority was now close to an amicable agreement with the school. Mr. Hew said the com- pletion of the project was an important part of planned upgrades to Cay- man’s infrastructure. The average number of daily trips along the Lin- ford Pierson Highway has increased from 13,000 per day to 21,000 per day in the 15 years since it was built, according to Edward Howard, acting managing director of the NRA. He said the road had been built with capacity to expand and could go up to six lanes if necessary. Mr. Howard believes the work done on phase one is already impacting traffic flow, citing re- ports from motorists that their commute times had been cut in half. Mr. Hew said he believed the road would provide a huge relief for people trav- eling into town from the eastern districts. “I think we will see the proof in the pudding when school reopens,” he added. “We will be completing the works on the Esterley Tibbetts Highway within a week or two as well, which will help with those coming in from West Bay.” Further work is planned to widen and enhance Crewe Road while the NRA is investigating ways to im- prove traffic flow at the Grand Harbour roundabout – a choke point for traffic coming from the east. The next major project for the NRA is the exten- sion of Elgin Avenue, which will see construction of a new two-lane roundabout connection to Printers Way and Crewe Road. Mr. Hew said govern- ment was doing everything it could to improve the road network but he acknowl- edged building new roads was not a sustainable long- term solution if the island continues to grow. “I love this beautiful new road but I also love that we have bike lanes and pedes- trian access. We have to start encouraging our residents to start carpooling, using bikes, even motorized bikes. We The average number of daily trips along the Linford Pierson Highway has increased from 13,000 per day to 21,000 per day in the 15 years since it was built, according to Edward Howard, acting managing director of the NRA. AMNESTY URGES CUBA TO ALLOW ACCESS TO DETAINED DISSIDENT VENEZUELAN OFFICIALS RELEASE VIDEO FROM JAILED LAWMAKER HAVANA (AP) – A leader of one of Cuba’s largest dissi- dent groups has been held incommunicado for a week in the eastern part of the country, the human rights organization Amnesty In- ternational said Friday. Amnesty called on the Cuban government to allow family members of Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia to visit him at a jail in Santiago de Cuba and let him hire a lawyer of his choice. The leader of opposi- tion group Patriotic Union of Cuba and his colleague Ebert Hidalgo Cruz were arrested Aug. 3 following a traffic accident involving a plain-clothed security offi- cial, the group said. It said only Hidalgo has been al- lowed a family visit. The U.S. State Depart- ment also expressed con- cern. “No family visit, no lawyer, no due process, no justice,” Francisco Palmieri, a principal deputy assis- tant secretary in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Af- fairs, said in a tweet. Ferrer was among 75 dissidents imprisoned in a March 2003 crack- down. He was released in March 2011. The Cuban govern- ment had no imme- diate comment. CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) – Venezuelan officials have released a videotaped statement from an opposi- tion lawmaker accused of having a role in an assas- sination attempt on Presi- dent Nicolas Maduro. Communications Min- ister Jorge Rodriguez said Friday the tape shows an admission, but opposition lawmaker Juan Requesens never confesses or men- tions the attack. Last weekend, two drones exploded while Maduro spoke at an outdoor military celebration. Officials jailed Requesens and ordered the arrest of Julio Borges, an opposition lawmaker living in Bogota. The video shows Reque- sens making a statement to investigators in which he says he helped Borges bring a man into Vene- zuela from Colombia, but never met him. Relatives say Requesens did not plot a crime and has been jailed for criti- cizing Maduro. JURY NOTICE Jurors in the current Grand Court are advised that they should not report on Monday, Aug. 13, but should report on Tuesday, Aug. 14, at 9:45 a.m. The most up-to- date information may be ob- tained from the Jurors Hot- line, 244-3899. can’t keep building and widening roads and have families with five or six cars and everyone going to the same place.” He said he hoped to work with Deputy Pre- mier Moses Kirkconnell to get a public transport study done and come up with innovative solu- tions to manage traffic growth going forward. Infrastructure Minister Joey Hew said the project was part of an ongoing upgrade to cope with increased traffic. - PHOTOS: JAMES WHITTAKER Edward Howard, acting managing director of the NRA, said the road widening project could halve commute times from the eastern districts. Edward Howard removes traffic cones to officially open the expanded road.3 LOCAL&REGIONAL CAYMAN COMPASS • MONDAY AUGUST 13, 2018 Local police recruit numbers lagging RCIPS growing mainly via foreign officers BRENT FULLER bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com The Royal Cayman Is- lands Police Service has not managed to hire more than nine new cadets in any local recruitment ef- fort since 2014, leaving the growth planned within the police service over the next few years mostly dependent on the hiring of non-Cayma- nian officers. The RCIPS has been ap- proved to hire 75 new of- ficers between this year and 2020, in an attempt to grow the department’s pa- trol division, community po- licing efforts and its spe- cialist units. However, local cadet classes netted a total of just seven new police officers in 2015, six in 2017 and nine earlier this year. Typically, the police have recruited 12-15 new cadets per class in prior years. At the same time, the de- partment grew by about 10 percent between March 2017 and March of this year. That growth has largely come from foreign recruits. Fifty-four percent of RCIPS officers as of March 2018 were non-Caymanian. In the most recent ef- fort to hire new cadets, the RCIPS announced Friday that it is now accepting ap- plications from both Cay- manians and non-Cay- manians. Previously, the recruitment was limited to Caymanians and spouses of Caymanians who have per- manent residence. Any non- Caymanian hopefuls must have at least four years of residence in the islands be- fore application. “We are extending the [application] deadline and also widening the criteria for applicants in order to create a pool of interested people with local knowledge from which we can draw for our personnel needs both this year and next,” RCIPS Commissioner Derek Byrne said, adding that the current recruitment drive would extend to Aug. 24 to allow any other interested candidates to apply. The commissioner noted Friday that 81 applications for the upcoming cadet class had been received, which he said the RCIPS considered “a very good result.” How- ever, it is a far cry from the hundreds of applications re- ceived in previous years by the police service, or those received in other law en- forcement departments, such as prisons officers. A recruitment effort in early 2014 screened 500 po- tential applicants for police. A total of 128 applicants vied for just seven open jobs at Her Majesty’s Prisons Service in 2016. Commissioner Byrne ac- knowledged that the RCIPS seeks to hire Caymanians “first and foremost” during its recruiting efforts. How- ever, the rate at which new local police cadets are being brought in to the ser- vice won’t allow the RCIPS to hire fast enough to meet its goal of 75 more of- ficers by 2020. Moreover, the police ser- vice overall is aging, ac- cording to records obtained via a Cayman Compass open records request in 2016. The records revealed that out of 365 uniformed officers at the time, just 17 (4.7 percent) were be- tween ages 18-28. Eighteen is the min- imum age one must at- tain before joining the local police service. On the other hand, 237 police officers, representing 65 percent of the depart- ment, were between the ages of 40 and 59. An addi- tional seven police officers were over age 60, according to the records. Since then, the police service has grown to about 390 uniformed police offi- cers, not counting special constables. Most of those new recruits have come from overseas. The move to open the police recruit class to non- Caymanians drew criticism from Opposition Leader Ezzard Miller, who asked Acting Governor Franz Manderson to deny police the ability to open their local recruitment class to non-Caymanians. “Once again, the Govern- ment is making it difficult for Caymanians to secure employment in their own country,” Mr. Miller said. “We reject the Commission- er’s rationale that transient groups in the community should have representation in the police force, partic- ularly in view of the role of cultural awareness and knowledge in maintaining public safety and effec- tive policing.” Acting Governor Man- derson said Saturday that Commissioner Byrne had “made it clear” that the RCIPS intended to give Caymanians preference in hiring, as the law requires. “The Commissioner has a proven track record of making every attempt to increase the number of Caymanians in the RCIPS including opening the ap- plication process for Cay- manians to apply to join the RCIPS as an ongoing pro- cess throughout the year,” Mr. Manderson said. “I re- cently attended the RCIPS graduating class of 2018 in which the entire class of nine were Caymanians. “I believe it is impor- tant to point out that the criticisms leveled at the Commissioner do not ac- curately capture his com- ments. Given the applicants have only just applied and are at stage 1 of the recruit- ment process, the Commis- sioner did not refer to them as ‘suitable candidates.’ Rather, the Commissioner confirmed the RCIPS had re- ceived 81 applications ‘from people meeting the min- imum criteria.’ “I join the Commissioner in encouraging Cayma- nians to use the extension of the deadline to apply to join the RCIPS.” On Friday, Mr. Byrne said, in addition to the ef- fort to recruit new officers, the police also must recruit individuals to specialist po- sitions where skills do not exist within the islands’ small population. “We will strive to rep- resent some groups in the Islands that are currently underrepresented in the Service, while also adding varied skill sets, including language skills, to our day- to-day working capacities,” Mr. Byrne said. The department grew by about 10 percent between March 2017 and March of this year. That growth has largely come from foreign recruits. Fifty-four percent of RCIPS officers as of March 2018 were non-Caymanian.The islands’ most-trusted news source 4 Thirty minutes. Forty questions – of which you must answer 32 or more correctly. Your study guide: an 80-plus page manual stuffed with motorway minutiae. No, this isn’t a new “Survivor-style” game show. It’s the Cayman Islands written drivers’ license exam. And it is little wonder so many people fail it on their first (or second, or third or subsequent) try. As the Compass reported last week, only 3,599 of the 6,851 written drivers’ license exams administered last year resulted in a passing grade, according to the Department of Vehicle and Drivers’ Licensing records. That pass rate (52.5 percent) is fairly typical of the past decade’s results. Since 2007, the pass rate has never exceeded 61 percent. In fact, it has been known to be less than half. And no wonder. As anyone who has endured the experience well knows, the test questions may cover anything from the optimum tread depth of a trailer tire (one millimeter across the circumference and 75 percent of its breadth, for those of you who are mea- suring) to the proper way to overtake a horse on the roadway (pro tip: leave plenty of room and lay off the horn, as the noise could startle the beast). Some of the questions we have encountered are so arcane, a more suspicious person might wonder whether exam administrators scour The Road Code and traffic law’s dense legalese with the express purpose of catching would-be drivers out for their ignorance of even the most obscure and special- ized requirements. We don’t know if the DVDL considers the test to be more than a decades-old joke, but we can assure them, the public is not laughing. With this kind of failure rate – and the presence of outlandish, irrelevant questions – surely someone exists within the agency who is not asleep at the proverbial wheel. The problem begins with the Code itself, which could use an editor’s merciless pen (better yet, a sharp pair of scissors). The hefty tome is so loaded down with information it is all but impossible for drivers to identify the most important rules and guidelines. Case in point: no fewer than 10 pages are specifically dedicated to a multitude of traffic signs, signals and road markings, the likes of which have rarely (if ever) been seen on Cayman roads. Hiero- glyphics are easier to translate. Even so, anyone sitting for the drivers’ exam is expected to study this arcane symbolism – memo- rizing mysterious symbols for hump bridges, side winds, hidden dips and double bends with the focus and dedication of a Renaissance scholar poring over the great works of the ancient Romans and Greeks. At the same time, they are expected to develop expertise in bicycle lighting and equipment, steering wheel grippage (“Avoid having the steering wheel slide through the palms of your hands when negotiating or turning corners,” the document warns), and rules for rights of way in any conceivable combination of road layout and vehicles (even though we all know that in Cayman, the boldest – or least attentive – driver usually goes first). Truly, it is a miracle that anyone passes the written exam, at all. Anyone who has spent more than a moment behind the wheel here knows that the gap between traffic “theory” and traffic “fact” can be vast, indeed – larger even than the 75 feet or six car lengths it requires to stop safely from a speed of 30 miles per hour. Here’s an idea: Simplify the entire thing. Give would-be drivers a Top 10 – even a Top 15 or Top 20 – list of “rules and regs” they absolutely must understand and obey. We venture to guess that would lead to better passing rates (and safer roads) than this indigestible, incomprehensible, unacceptable mess. – EDITORIAL – A failing grade for Cayman’s drivers’ tests 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. 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 findtheirownway” MONDAY AUGUST 13, 2018 • CAYMAN COMPASS So much to protest, so little time ”The past is a foreign country; they do things dif- ferently there.” – L.P. Hartley WASHINGTON – They do things differently in Port- land, but not because it is a foreign country, although many Americans might wish it were: At this moment, it is one national embarrassment too many. Rather, the tumults in Portland, which is a petri dish of progressivism, per- haps reveal something about Oregon’s political DNA. A cen- tury ago, the state was a bas- tion of reaction. Recently in Portland, an “intersectional” femi- nist bookstore (“intersec- tionality” postulates that society’s victims – basi- cally, everyone but white males – suffer interlocking and overlapping victimiza- tions), which appeared in the television series “Port- landia,” closed. It blamed its failure not on a scarcity of customers but on an ex- cess of “capitalism,” “white supremacy” and “patri- archy.” (Presumably these made customers scarce.) Poor Portland progressives: So much to protest, so little time. However, right wingers spoiling for fights have done “antifa” (anti-fascist) Port- landers the favor of flocking to the city to provide a sim- ulacrum of fascism, thereby assuaging progressives’ Thir- ties Envy – nostalgia for the good old days of barricading Madrid against Franco’s ad- vancing forces. In the Twenties, how- ever, Oregon was a national leader in a different flavor of nonsense, as historian Linda Gordon recounts in “The Second Coming of the KKK: The Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s and the American Po- litical Tradition.” The Klan’s revival began in 1915 with the romanticizing of it in the film “Birth of a Nation,” adapted from the novel “The Clansman” by Thomas Dixon. He was a John Hopkins Uni- versity classmate and friend of Woodrow Wilson, who as president made the movie the first one shown in the White House. Wilson was enrap- tured: “It is like writing his- tory with lightning. And my only regret is that it is all so terribly true.” The resuscitated Klan flourished nationwide as a vehicle of post-World War I populism. It addressed griev- ances about national identity – pre-war immigration (too many Catholics and Jews) had diluted Anglo-Saxon pu- rity – and disappointment with the recalcitrant world that had not been sufficiently improved by, or grateful for, U.S. involvement in the war. Gordon, who grew up in Portland, says: “Starting in the mid-nineteenth cen- tury, and extending through the mid-twentieth century, Oregon was arguably the most racist place outside the southern states, possibly even of all the states.” By the early 1920s, “Oregon shared with Indiana the distinction of having the highest per capita Klan membership” because the Klan’s agenda “fit comfort- ably into the state’s tradition.” In 1844, Oregon terri- tory banned slavery – and required African-Americans to leave. Prevented by fed- eral law from expelling Af- rican-Americans, Gordon says it became the only state to ban “any further blacks from entering, living, voting or owning property,” a law “to be enforced by lashings for vio- lators.” The state offered free land, but only to whites. It im- posed an annual tax on non- whites who remained. Oregon refused to ratify the post- Civil War Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments (not doing so until 1959 and 1973, respectively). In 1920, Oregon’s popula- tion was 0.006 percent Jap- anese (they came after the federal government banned Chinese immigration in 1882), 0.3 percent African-American, 0.1 percent Jewish and 8 per- cent Catholic. To make living difficult for Japanese, Gordon says, the state “banned immi- grants from operating hospi- tality businesses.” In 1923, only one state legislator voted against barring immigrants from owning or renting land. In advance of today’s pro- gressive hostility to private schools competing with gov- ernment schools, Klan-dom- inated Oregon – it was pri- marily hostile to Catholic schools – banned all private schools. In 1925, in Pierce v. Society of Sisters (Gov. Walter Pierce was a Democrat and, Gordon says, “an ardent Klan ally”), the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously struck down this law. In a let-bygones-be-by- gones spirit that Oregon pro- gressives probably are too stern to embrace, let us as- sume that what Shakespeare said of individuals can be said of American states: “Use every man after his desert, and who shall ‘scape whip- ping?” Today, Portland’s gen- erally irritable, often cranky and sometimes violent pro- gressivism suggests that William Faulkner’s famous axiom – “The past is never dead. It’s not even past”– needs this codicil: The ba- cillus of past stupidities lurks dormant but not dead in the social soil everywhere, ready to infect fresh fanaticisms when they come along, as they invariably do. Perhaps the proportion of stupidity to intelligence in America is fairly con- stant over time, and today just seems especially soggy with stupidity because social media and mesmerized jour- nalists give it such velocity. Isn’t it pretty to think so? George Will’s email address is georgewill@washpost.com. © 2018, Washington Post Writers Group GEORGE F. WILL GEORGE Perhaps the proportion of stupidity to intelligence in America is fairly constant over time ...5 LOCAL NEWS CAYMAN COMPASS • MONDAY AUGUST 13, 2018 Building Tomorrow Today CIBC Cayman Bank Limited Scholarship 2018 CIBC Cayman Bank Limited Invites applications from suitable quali ed Caymanians for an annual Scholarship to pursue an Associates or Bachelor’s degree at a local university. Candidates should have been accepted for the 2018 academic year. Successful candidates should have: • An interest in pursuing a degree in Business Administration, Accounting, Finance, Management, Marketing, IT or Human Resources • A proven academic record (GPA of 3.0 or higher) • Caymanian status or be Caymanian Email: human.resourcescayman@wi.cibc.com to obtain scholarship guidelines and application form Deadline for applications is August 17th, 2018 Judge set to address jury in firearms trial Defense points to lack of forensic evidence CAROL WINKER cwinker@pinnaclemedialtd.com Justice Francis Belle was expected to address the jury on Monday morning in the trial of two men who have pleaded not guilty to posses- sion of unlicensed firearms. Gerald Jaleel Bush, 21, and Rico Roy Walton, 29, are charged with possessing two handguns – a 9mm Trabzon and a Colt .45 loaded with six rounds. The firearms were found by police in the roots of the “shoe” tree along the coast in South Sound in the early hours of Sunday, June 25, 2017. The defendants had been in a boat outside the reef and had come back through the South Sound channel. They later told police they had gone to fish in the waters off Pedro Castle but had forgot their bait and so had come back. Mr. Bush said he disem- barked near Old Crewe Road to walk to a nearby gas sta- tion to buy bait, but then real- ized he did not have his wallet and so began walking toward the South Sound dock instead, where his truck was parked. Mr. Walton, who was seen by the police helicopter camera coming ashore be- fore getting back in the boat and going to the dock, said he had stopped to hide the ganja he had with him. He de- nied having any guns or put- ting them near the shoe tree. After his evidence last week, his employer came to court as a character witness and said that Mr. Walton was very reliable, very respectful and showed a lot of dedica- tion to his job. That was the end of the evidence and speeches by attorneys began Thursday afternoon. Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Patrick Moran told jurors that events which gave rise to the charge had begun before officers in the police helicopter saw the men in a boat in South Sound min- utes before midnight. Mr. Moran pointed to an image of a gun stored in Mr. Bush’s cellphone on Wednesday, June 21, 2017. A forensic expert identified 11 unique points in comparing the image with a picture of Justice Belle’s address will sum up the evidence and instruct the jury on the law and legal principles that apply. Date set for arson trial Defendant pleads not guilty two counts of arson, one count of attempted arson CAROL WINKER cwinker@pinnaclemedialtd.com Rupert Junior Spence appeared in Grand Court on Friday, when he pleaded not guilty to two counts of arson and one count of attempted arson relating to an incident in George Town last year. The arson charges relate to two vehicles parked on Palm Dale Av- enue on Sept. 12, 2017. The attempted arson relates to a nearby apartment. Justice Francis Belle set the trial to begin on Monday, Nov. 19. Defense attorney Jon- athon Hughes did not indicate whether the trial would be by jury or by judge alone. Arson is described in the Penal Code as de- stroying or damaging the property of another person by fire. Inmates clean up roadsides through NRA program JEWEL LEVY jlevy@pinnaclemedialtd.com For the inmates of North- ward Prison, picking up trash to make Cayman communi- ties more beautiful is a way to give back and grow. “It’s a great opportunity for the inmates at Northward to be able to come out to show that we are people that are coming back into society and we can be productive members of the community although we made mistakes,” said inmate Leighton Ran- kine Jr. during a supervised, roadside cleanup last week. “It’s also a good thing someone stepped forward. It’s showing us we are not lost and there are some good people that go to prison.” He said it has been almost a month since they started the cleanup program with the National Roads Authority. Since that time, the inmates in the program have cleaned up the eastern parts of the island, from North Side to Kaibo, along Queens Highway and through Bodden Town as they work their way west. “This was an opportu- nity for some of the inmates to volunteer their services to join the NRA to do some- thing good in the commu- nity that may help to enable them to repay some of the damage that their behavior has caused,” said Prisons Di- rector Steven Barrett. “Having a nice clean environment in the Cayman Islands is ex- tremely important to every- body. Although we have pris- oners who are incarcerated at the moment, they all come from communities that have litter problems as well.” Mr. Barrett said the project came about after the Prison Service was ap- proached by the National Roads Authority for assis- tance. The NRA wanted hel- premoving litter, which can become trapped in land- scaping equipment. “When they were cutting bush and grass at the side of road in various parts of the com- munity, there was an awful lot of trash and rubbish. When the cutting equipment shredded it, it made the litter issue much worse,” he said. The collaborative efforts between the Prison Service and the NRA aim to effec- tively and efficiently keep local roadways clean and safe for all members of the public. Several government offi- cials attended a launch event for the partnership at Bodden Town Civic Centre. “The project is working well with the Prison Ser- vice to provide these reha- bilitation opportunities to the prisoners and at the same time provide a new ap- proach for them to help clean up the roadside to make the island beautiful,” said MLA Joseph Hew. Ministers Tara Rivers and Joseph Hew meet with NRA and prison officials, as well as inmates during a small cermony to launch the initiative at Bodden Town Civic Centre. - PHOTO: JEWEL LEVY one of the guns found. Mr. Moran asked what were the odds of Mr. Bush receiving a picture of one of the guns found on the night of his arrest and found in the same tree to- ward which Mr. Bush was walking that night. He agreed that coinci- dences do happen and said it was a matter for the ju- rors whether they accepted the expert’s evidence. He reviewed phone messages in the days before June 25, which Mr. Bush said were about car parts. He reminded jurors of the defendants’ evidence in court as it compared with their police interviews. Attorney Jonathon Hughes spoke for Mr. Bush and attorney Oliver Grim- wood for Mr. Walton. Both of them referred to a lack of forensic evidence, such as fingerprints. The guns had been found in a sock and there was DNA of at least two persons on the guns and three persons on the sock. But the DNA was from other people, not Mr. Bush or Mr. Walton. “You’re perfectly enti- tled to ask yourself why,” Mr. Hughes said. He pointed out that the boat the men were on had a GPS (Global Positioning System) but examination showed it had not been used since January 2017. He asked how that affected “the Crown theory that there was some meet-up in the middle of the ocean.” He pointed out that the jurors were not being asked if Mr. Bush was a good guy or if they liked him. Mr. Hughes said if they applied the evi- dence that was relevant, they would find that the Crown had fallen short in proving the case. Mr. Grimwood put the Crown’s burden of proof a different way. He agreed that his client was in the dock – “But it’s the Crown’s case that is on trial.” Justice Belle’s address will sum up the evidence and instruct the jury on the law and legal princi- ples that apply.6 LOCAL NEWS MONDAY AUGUST 13, 2018 • CAYMAN COMPASS Caitlin Tyson crowned Miss Cayman 2018 Miss Cayman Islands Universe contestants hug and congratulate winner Caitlin Tyson. Caitlin Tyson is crowned by former Miss Cayman Islands Anika Conolly, left, and Derri Dacres-Lee, chairperson of the Miss Cayman Islands Universe Committee. Caitlin Tyson of Bodden Town dons the crown, alongside Josani Schneider, left, and Tiffany Conolly. - PHOTOS: TANEOS RAMSAY Josani Schneider of West Bay won Best in Gown. Keilen Jackson of Bodden Town takes the stage. Ms. Tyson has a degree in acting and hopes to use the scholarship to pursue a mas- ter’s degree in performing arts. Ultimately, she hopes to help grow the arts scene in the Cayman Islands. “One of the main reasons I entered is for the scholar- ship,” she said. “It is a beauty pageant but it is so much more than that. We are all intel- ligent women trying to be- come more skilled and to better ourselves.” The contest featured a private interview with the judges, swimsuit and ball gown contests and a final question on current affairs. Ms. Tyson paid tribute to all the other contestants and the sponsors and said she was looking forward to representing Cayman at Miss Universe. She said she was inspired by past win- ners, particularly her friend Monyque Brooks. “I have really big shoes to fill. I am humbled to be chosen to represent our beloved islands and I am so excited to have an op- portunity that I have been dreaming of for so long.” Josani Schneider was the first runner-up in the pag- eant with Tiffany Conolly second runner-up. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 17 WORLD&REGIONAL CAYMAN COMPASS • MONDAY AUGUST 13, 2018 OCTOBER , The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman www.breastcancerfoundation.ky info@breastcancerfoundation.ky PRINT MEDIA SPONSOR Featuring Special Guest Speaker Shannen D hert THANK YOU TO OUR PLATINUM SPONSOR Cayman resident explores the steppes of Mongolia MARK MUCKENFUSS mmuckenfuss@pinnaclemedialtd.com Amanda Goodwin arrived in Mongolia but her luggage, her coat and her sleeping bag did not. It was not a good situation to be in since she was headed into the wilds of the rugged country, plan- ning to travel by horseback and camp in the freezing cold found at nearly 10,000 feet of elevation in the mountains. Fortunately, she was able to reoutfit herself before leaving civilization. Ms. Goodwin, 53, was part of a 20-member team that recently spent three weeks trekking through remote areas of Mongolia. The team provided some basic medical treatment for the nomadic people living there. It also gathered information on the flora and fauna of the region and mapped some archaeo- logical sites. The expedition was orga- nized by the U.K.-based Sci- entific Exploration Society, which mounts or sponsors several such projects each year. Ms. Goodwin had been on a previous trip with the outfit to the Peruvian Andes, where, in addition to pro- viding for medical clinics, the group tried to gather data on spectacled bears. Getting onto a team is a challenge in and of it- self, she said. “You have to go through a selection process and you have to raise money,” Ms. Goodwin said. “They need certain science (background) or certain skills. I am a bit of a jack of all trades.” Trained as a physio- therapist – a role she some- times played for team mem- bers with physical problems – Ms. Goodwin has also contributed to the trips as a Spanish interpreter (in Peru), a community aid worker, a field worker in zo- ology and archaeology, and a dental assistant. During the dental clinics the team held, she said, “We took out about 125 teeth in three days. We had no run- ning water, no electricity. We had a generator. There’s no way you can do com- plex treatment.” Medical treatment was also offered, she said, but the greatest demand and the lon- gest lines were for the eye- glasses clinic. Despite their relatively primitive lifestyle, the Mongolian nomads are “pretty well educated,” she said, and many were in need of reading glasses. She was impressed by the people she came into contact with. “The Mongolian people are unbelievable,” she said. “They are wonderful people, their warmth, their humor, their hospitality. They’re al- ways laughing, always joking, always singing.” When they entered a new village or encampment, she said, they were regularly of- fered yak milk, vodka, yak cheese and other food. “It’s a really, really inter- esting culture,” she said. On the research end of things, Ms. Goodwin said, “Wherever we were camping for more than a night, we put out camera traps and some baited traps for small mammals and rodents. In the day, we just recorded what we saw.” Expedition leaders were on the lookout for Przewals- ki’s horses, or Takhi. The an- cient wild breed, considered the world’s only truly wild horse, were once extinct in the wild. In 2004, a herd of 12 was reintroduced to Mon- golia. The population there is now estimated at 400. In his report on the ex- cursion, leader John Blash- ford-Snell wrote about en- countering the animals after rounding a bend in the trail. “Along the meandering stream and on the slopes above it were over 50 Prze- walskis. Mares with foals were being shepherded by their guardian stallion, who kept trotting back to chase off young bachelors eager to reach his harem. Others bathed in the dark waters whilst several rolled in the dust to protect themselves from ectoparasites and in- sects. Some groomed each other, but with much whin- nying, kicking and biting a number of stallions fought as they attempted to win control of their own mares. “Parading across our front, they paid little atten- tion to our team that could approach within fifty me- tres. A photographer’s para- dise and a remarkable sight which few will forget.” Ms. Goodwin said the group was also hoping to spot some snow leopards, but never saw any. “We thought we spotted a wolf,” she said. “We were also looking for Saiga ante- lopes, which are endangered. We did see some large herds of antelope.” On the archaeological front, she said, the team in- vestigated some Bronze Age burial chambers, employing a dowser in the group to help locate and identify the shape of the tombs. Ms. Goodwin spoke by phone from a town near Va- lencia, Spain, where she is spending some time be- fore returning to Cayman. She works for Global Macro Investor, a monthly finan- cial magazine. She said she is still ad- justing to her return to civi- lization. She enjoyed being away from the hustle and bustle, she said. “Just being out so far from anywhere, no phone, no electricity, no wifi,” she said. “It was refreshing.” Amanda Goodwin, left, worked as a dental assistant while on her Mongolian expedition. Amanda Goodwin, left, was part of an expedition group that traveled through remote areas of Mongolia on horseback.The islands’ most-trusted news source 8 broke down in April, a technician was sent there on April 24, according to emails between department officials. “Unfortunately he could not repair the unit because two major parts of the incin- erator is burnt. He told me that he will source them from overseas and notify us on the cost,” states an April 25 email from Patience Eke, the environmental health officer for the Sister Islands. “Sadly, we have to start disposing of the medical waste into the trench again.” When the Compass pub- lished a story on May 7 about untreated medical waste being dumped at the Brac landfill, Health Ministry of- ficials began pressing the matter. Health Ministry Chief Officer Jennifer Ahearn sent an email to various min- istry and department offi- cials, telling them to “get a proposed plan together asap” so it can be communicated to the public. Jim Schubert, a senior project manager for the Public Works Department, suggested that the medical waste be transported on a barge from the Brac to Grand Cayman, where it would be incinerated at the George Town landfill. But Ms. Eke cautioned that the medical waste would have to be transported with food and other household items. “For [Department of En- vironmental Health] to ship medical waste in the same barge, we will need a special twenty or forty foot container and the medical waste must be pretreated to be trans- ported in the same barge that carry foods and other house- hold items,” Ms. Eke wrote to the other officials on May 17. Instead of transporting the waste to Grand Cayman for incineration, the depart- ment continued to dispose the untreated waste at the Brac landfill, covering the waste with a layer of soil after every dump. On June 12, a Department of Environmental Health tech- nician notified department and ministry officials that the Brac incinerator “is back in full operation.” “But what about the [George Town landfill] repairs?” re- sponded one of his colleagues. “Please, report on progress with these much needed repairs.” In response to a question about this email exchange, the Department of Environmental Health told the Compass that the George Town landfill in- cinerator was broken from May 30 to June 30 due to a “malfunctioning refractory” – a heat-resistant material used in incinerators and fur- naces. This means that both incinerators were broken for a period of time. Meanwhile, the Brac in- cinerator broke again on June 18, according to de- partment emails. “The incinerator was re- paired on the 8th of June through the 9th of June. The first combustion was fairly ok. We did the second burning on the 13th of June. The unit was opened today and the operator realized that there was some defects,” wrote Ms. Eke on June 18. “The technician was contacted and he promised to revisit on or before the 21st of June to rectify the defects.” The technician indeed re- paired the Brac incinerator on June 21. After briefly being down again from July 30 to Aug. 1 due to a “malfunc- tioning secondary burner,” the Brac incinerator is “currently operational,” the Department of Environmental Health told the Compass on Friday. However, the George Town landfill incinerator broke down again on Aug. 2, as one of the burners within its pri- mary chamber was damaged, the department stated. “Arrangements are cur- rently underway for its re- placement,” the department stated on Friday. MONDAY AUGUST 13, 2018 • CAYMAN COMPASS Half-year budget surplus reported at $201 million Brac incinerator fixed, but George Town’s now broken expected. Import duties also came in $4.4 million higher than forecast. The tourism sector also contributed with $4.5 million more from tourism accommodation charges than anticipated for the first half of the year. “Tourist accommoda- tion charges were favorable mainly due to record high visitor arrivals,” the half- year budget report said, noting a 20-percent com- bined increase in air and cruise arrivals over last year. Overall, government tax revenues increased despite falling fees collected from exempt companies in the fi- nancial services industry and a drop off in funds paid by permanent residence ap- plications, which there were fewer of during the first half of the year. The half-year budget also benefited from a sav- ings in personnel costs within the government; however, financial man- agers cautioned this sav- ings is likely temporary. “[It] is the result of sev- eral ministries and portfo- lios having numerous va- cant posts that still have not been filled, including positions for the fire ser- vice, prison and Workforce Opportunities and Resi- dency Cayman [agency],” the report noted. The larger budget sur- plus will provide the public sector a cash cushion heading in to what are typ- ically the lower-earning months of the year between August and November, Fi- nance Minister Roy McTag- gart said. Typically, most of Cayman’s government fees are paid in the first four months of the year, when tourism is at its highest level and when most fi- nancial services company fees are due. “As the trend for revenue is generally lower in the second half of the year, it is anticipated that the surplus will align closer to budgeted expectations by year-end,” Mr. McTaggart said. “Gov- ernment is confident it will achieve the budgeted net surplus of $81 million, at a minimum, by the end of this year,” Mr. McTaggart said in a statement Friday. The Cayman Islands gov- ernment has ended its past several fiscal years, staring in 2013, with an operating budget surplus, meaning revenues from taxes and fees came in higher than ex- penses for the year. Cayman Islands central government revenues have risen by 44 percent in the past decade, according to budget records produced by the public sector’s Eco- nomics and Statistics Office. Current revenue reported by the government during the calendar year 2008 stood at $522.2 million, compared to $753.2 million for 2017. The revenue figures went up substantially after two significant tax increases on immigration permit fees and financial services com- panies levied in 2010 and again in 2012, following the global market recession. Untreated medical waste was found by the Compass at the Cayman Brac landfill in May. The incinerator there is now currently operational. - PHOTO: KEN SILVA The dysfunctional Brac landfill incinerator led to untreated medical waste being improperly dumped. - PHOTO: KEN SILVA CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 UN: Bachelet named as human rights chief UNITED NATIONS (AP) – Former Chilean President Mi- chelle Bachelet’s unanimous approval as the next U.N. human rights chief on Friday sparked a sharp exchange be- tween the United States and several key opponents over rights abuses – a foretaste of some of the issues Bachelet will confront. With a bang of his gavel, General Assembly President Miroslav Lajcak gave offi- cial approval by acclama- tion to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ selection of Bachelet. Diplomats from the U.N.’s 193 member states burst into applause. “Deeply humbled and hon- ored to announce my accep- tance as the @UN’s new High Commissioner for Human Rights. I thank Secretary Gen- eral @antonioguterres and the General Assembly for en- trusting me this important task,” Bachelet tweeted shortly after the assembly’s approval. Guterres then touted Bachelet’s qualifications: the first female president of Chile, first head of the gender equality agency known as UN Women, “a survivor of brutality” by a Chilean dictator, and a phy- sician who understands peo- ple’s thirst for health and economic and social rights. She has also “lived under the darkness of dictator- ship,” he said. Bachelet’s father was im- prisoned for treason for op- posing the coup that ousted Marxist President Salvador Allende in September 1973. She and her mother were tortured in a secret prison for two weeks before they fled into exile. Her father, Gen. Alberto Bachelet, died of cardiac arrest following months of torture. Guterres told reporters Bachelet will take office “at a time of grave consequence for human rights.” “Hatred and inequality are on the rise,” he said. “Re- spect for international hu- manitarian and human rights law is on the decline. Space for civil society is shrinking. Press freedoms are under pressure.” But some of the pres- sures that Bachelet will face were immediately evident in several speeches following her approval by the Gen- eral Assembly. U.S. Minister-Counselor Stefaine Amadeo, speaking on behalf of the U.N.’s host country, said “it is incum- bent” on Bachelet to avoid what the United States called the failure of the U.N. human rights system. She singled out the Ge- neva-based Human Rights Council’s “consistent failure to address extreme human rights abuses in the Western hemisphere, in Venezuela and Cuba in particular.” She also cited U.N. failures “to adequately address major human rights crises” in Iran, North Korea and Congo. Venezuela’s U.N. Ambas- sador Samuel Moncada said his country will only believe the United States supports human rights when it stops separating Latin American children and parents, stops using drones and “claiming the use of torture as legiti- mate practice,” ends discrim- ination against the people of Puerto Rico, and “stops in- sulting entire nations” Moncada called U.S. threats to use military force against Venezuela “the expres- sion of the most racist and cruel government in the re- cent history of this country.” “They have no moral right to talk about this topic (human rights) because this hatred has led them to be a threat to international peace and security,” he stressed. Amadeo, the American diplomat, then took the floor saying the United States “notes with disappointment the incorrect misconstruc- tions, fabrications and false criticism of the delegations of Cuba and Venezuela.”The islands’ most-trusted news source 9 Man who stole plane not a pilot A Horizon Airlines employee who stole an empty commercial airplane at Seattle–Tacoma International Airport Friday and crashed into a small island was not a licensed pilot, investigators said. The investigation is ongoing. CAYMAN COMPASS • MONDAY AUGUST 13, 2018 Eastern Ave, GT Drive-Thru P: 949-7104 WITH FOUR CONVENIENT LOCATIONS TO SERVE YOU www.puritan.kypuritangc@candw.ky Centennial West Bay P: 945-4508 Savannah Countryside P: 946-1884 Elgin Avenue, GT P: 949-2452 FREE PICK-UP AND DELIVERY Call 949-7104 Puritan Cleaners now using the most popular cleaning and eco-friendly solvent. (Excluding wedding gowns) 16% OFF PRE-PAY ORDERS On all men’s & women’s apparel I’ve got some beautiful clothes, I know just where they go. Meet the world with Puritan Cleaners, they are there for you and me, best cleaners you will see. THROUGH THE MONTH OF AUGUST C om e ce leb rate Puritan Cle an er s You Feel Good When You Look Good Rain or Shine Washington readies for planned white supremacist rally WASHINGTON – Down- town Washington, D.C., was calm Sunday morning, but the relative quiet was not likely to last. As many as 400 people were expected to make their way to Lafayette Park across the street from the White House later to take part in an event planned by the or- ganizer of last year’s deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The gathering, billed as a “white civil rights” rally, is taking place on the an- niversary of the Charlottes- ville violence, which killed an anti-racist protester, Heather Heyer, and took the lives of two Virginia State troopers whose helicopter crashed as they returned from moni- toring the day’s events. In Charlottesville on Sat- urday, hundreds of anti- racist protesters and activ- ists marched against racism through the city’s streets. The protests were peaceful though tense, with demon- strators complaining at times about the heavy police pres- ence as dozens of officers in riot gear stood at the ready. In Washington, thousands protesting the white suprem- acist rally also are expected at numerous locations, and many plan to converge on La- fayette Park, before the orga- nizer of the rally, Jason Kes- sler, and his followers arrive. Both Kessler and opposition groups have permits from the National Park Service to dem- onstrate at the park, a leafy seven-acre enclave just across Pennsylvania Avenue from the president’s residence. D.C. police could be seen early Sunday walking the streets near the park as of- ficials began shutting down several downtown streets where protesters are ex- pected to gather. Brightly colored signs de- claring, “From Charlottes- ville to the White House: Shut down white supremacy” and “No Nazis, no KKK, no fascist USA” lined patches of grass. Rossana Castillo, 50, a tourist from Grenoble, France, paused as she passed to take photos. “It’s astonishing to me,” she said of the planned Unite the Right rally that was expected to bring white supremacists and a former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan within shouting dis- tance of the White House. “And it is just so sad. I know I am a foreigner, but I love your country. I really do. And I am so grateful these people can be here and have the right to stand up to people like this.” Brian Becker, the executive director of the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition urged activists to “be strong, be steadfast, be calm, be dignified” as the sweep continued. He and his organization decided to host a counterpro- test Sunday, he said, because “the president said there were some ‘very fine people’ on both sides after Charlot- tesville – we think the Amer- ican people disagree.” “We represent the majority senti- ment in this country,” he said. “Nazis and the KKK do not represent America.” District leaders and fed- eral and local law enforce- ment officials say their focus Sunday is to keep the two groups apart and prevent any violence or property damage. Police in Charlottesville last year stood back as white su- premacists and neo-Nazis en- gaged in brutal clashes and street brawls with protesters, including members of anti- fascist groups. © 2018, The Washington Post A group of anti-fascist and Black Lives Matter demonstrators march on the campus of the University of Virginia after a rally to mark the anniversary of last year’s Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville. - PHOTO: AP Omarosa secretly taped her firing in White House BRIDEGWATER, N.J. (AP) – Former presidential adviser Omarosa Manigault Newman said Sunday she secretly re- corded conversations she had in the White House, including her firing by chief of staff John Kelly in the high-secu- rity Situation Room. It was a highly unusual admission, which immediately drew fire from allies of the president. Parts of her conversation with Kelly were played on the air during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” to promote her new book, “Un- hinged,” which will be re- leased next week. In it, she paints a damning picture of President Donald Trump, including claiming without evidence that tapes exist of him using the N- word as he filmed his “The Apprentice” reality series, on which she co-starred. Manigault Newman said in the book that she had not personally heard the re- cording. But she told Chuck Todd on Sunday that, after the book had closed, she was able to hear a recording of Trump during a trip to Los Angeles. “I heard his voice as clear as you and I are sitting here,” she said on the show. But the other recording she discussed Sunday could prove equally explosive. “Who in their right mind thinks it’s appropriate to se- cretly record the White House chief of staff in the Situation Room?” tweeted Ronna Mc- Daniel, chair of the Repub- lican National Committee. The Situation Room is a Sensitive Compartmented In- formation Facility, or SCIF, and staff are not permitted to bring in cellphones or other recording devices. In the recording played on air, and which Manigault Newman quotes in the book, Kelly can be heard saying she can look at her time at the White House as a year of “ser- vice to the nation” and referring to potential “difficulty in the fu- ture relative to your reputation.” Manigault Newman said she viewed the comment as a “threat” and defended her decision to covertly record it and other White House con- versations, describing it as a form of protection. “If I didn’t have these re- cordings, no one in America would believe me,” she said. The White House did not immediately respond to the tape, but has tried to dis- credit the book. White House press secretary Sarah Huck- abee Sanders called it “rid- dled with lies and false ac- cusations” and Trump on Saturday labeled Manigault Newman a “lowlife.” White House counselor Kellyanne Conway also ques- tioned Manigault Newman’s credibility in an interview Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.” “The first time I ever heard Omarosa suggest those awful things about this president are in this book,” she said, noting Manigault Newman “is somebody who gave a glowing appraisal of Donald Trump the businessman, the star of the ‘The Apprentice,’ the can- didate and, indeed, the presi- dent of the United States.” Conway said that, in her more than two years working with Trump, she has never heard him use a racial slur about anyone. Manigault Newman had in- deed been a staunch defender of the president for years, in- cluding pushing back, as the highest-profile African-Amer- ican in the White House, on ac- cusations that he was racist. But Manigault Newman now says she was “used” by Trump for years, calling him a “con” who “has been masquer- ading as someone who is ac- tually open to engaging with diverse communities” and is “truly a racist.”Next >