High of 90 Low of 78 Moderate with wave heights of 3 to 5 feet. EDITORIAL | PAGE 4 CARTER RETIREMENT: GOVERNMENT SILENCE IS UNACCEPTABLE WORLD | PAGE 8 FLORENCE DEATH TOLL CLIMBS TO 37; TRUMP VISITS STRICKEN AREA ESTABLISHED 1965 www.caymancompass.com – 50 CENTS – THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 20, 2018 Road User Call 949-8699 www.britcay.ky cgigrp BRITISH CAYMANIAN INSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED BritCay House, 236 Eastern Avenue, George Town, P.O. Box 74, KY1-1102 Tel. 949-8699 www.britcay.ky A member of Colonial Group International Ltd. : insurance, health, pensions, life Enjoy comprehensive cover with free roadside assistance, $200 deductible, zero windscreen deductible and many other free benefits! Ask for a quote! TRINIDAD BANK MOVES TO ACQUIRE CAYMAN NATIONAL KEN SILVA ksilva@pinnaclemedialtd.com The Republic Bank Trinidad and Tobago (Barbados) Ltd.’s potential acquisition of local bank Cayman National Corporation Ltd. is under way, with the Republic Bank opening an offer this week to purchase Cayman Na- tional shares. With the Republic Bank looking to buy up to 74.99 percent of Cayman National’s 42,350,731 shares for US$6.25 apiece, the transaction could reach nearly US$200 mil- lion. Republic Bank’s offer to shareholders is open through Oct. 22. The US$6.25 offer by Republic Bank repre- sents a $1.35 premium over the stock’s listed price, which was US$4.90 as of Tuesday. Be- fore the potential sale was announced in early August, the price of a Cayman National share was US$3. Cayman National’s notices about the sale state that it is subject to certain conditions, in- cluding Republic Bank maintaining a presence in the Sister Islands, retaining the name and branding of Cayman National and its subsid- iaries, and keeping the “majority” of Cayman National’s workforce and management team. The offer is also subject to conditions, such as the Republic Bank acquiring at least 51 percent of Cayman National’s stock, govern- ment and regulatory approvals, and approvals by Cayman National shareholders to amend the local bank’s articles of association in order to approve the acquisition. The board of Cayman National is sched- uled to hold a meeting on Oct. 9 to approve the amendment of the articles of association. Cayman National President Stuart Dack said NATIONAL BASKETBALL COACHES ANNOUNCED The Cayman Islands Basketball As- sociation on Wednesday announced the coaches for the national teams, as Cayman prepares for next year’s Is- land Games in Gibraltar. Edwin Pellot- Rosa and Duran Whittaker will coach the men’s national team, and Wendy Manzanares and Corey McGee will lead the women’s squad. For more on this story, see page 5. Burglars smash through walls to rob four businesses JEWEL LEVY jlevy@pinnaclemedialtd.com Cayman Police are looking for bur- glars who broke into four establishments in Cayman Business Park in George Town by smashing through drywall and tiles early Wednesday morning. The burglars entered the premises by breaking the front door glass pane at The Bump Boutique, a maternity wear store. Once inside, they smashed the drywall on two walls in the interior of the shop to gain access to the Wellness Centre and the law offices of A. Steve McField and Associates. From Mr. Mc- Field’s office, the thieves then knocked through tiles and drywall to enter Food for Thought Caterers, from which they stole a laptop, iPad and cash. Food for Thought’s Wayne O’Connor said he’d never seen such a “brazen” break- in, “coming through the walls … smashing tiles and sheetrock and through the walls of four units.” “They took my iPad, laptop … look at the mess,” Mr. O’Connor said, opening the door to his office where the thieves had emptied filing cabinets, scattered papers and over- turned desk chairs. Mr. O’Connor said the theft of his laptop had set him back professionally, as that is where he kept the names and contact details of clients and details of functions he had been hired to cater for. “They got away with some cash but not a lot,” he added. “There was a small amount of float taken from Gateway [to India] … it’s the Indian takeout delivery service that operates out of the kitchen at night.”Lawyer Steve McField stands in his ransacked office at the Cayman Business Park after burglars smashed their way through interior walls to access four businesses in the building. - PHOTO: JEWEL LEVY Ex-Boys Home staffer faces extradition for manslaughter KEN SILVA ksilva@pinnaclemedialtd.com United States law enforce- ment authorities are attempting to extradite Jamaican na- tional Larry Levers to Cayman, where he is wanted for man- slaughter in relation to the No- vember 2015 death of a teen- ager at the Bonaventure Boys Home in West Bay. According to documents filed with the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Mr. Levers, 46, was a supervisor at the Bonaven- ture Boys Home – the temporary living facility for at-risk children under the age of 16. On the morning of Nov. 29, 2015, Mr. Levers and a second supervisor, Michael Anthony Stewart, took 14-year-old Risco Batten and four other boys on a fishing activity, court documents state. The approved activity was fishing across from the Turtle Centre, but the supervisors al- legedly changed the location to an area near Burger King in George Town without approval. Later in the day, Messrs. Le- vers and Stewart allegedly moved the boys to a location in South Sound that is marked on navigation charts as Pull-and- be-Damned Point. After about 15 minutes of PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 7 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 7 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 7 »2 LOCAL&REGIONAL THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 20, 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. - THURSDAY - 640-FILM (640-3456) A SIMPLE FAVOR (R) 1:15 VIP I 4:30 I 7:10 I 9:30 VIP THE NUN (R) 2:00 I 4:20 VIP I 7:00 VIP I 10:00 PEPPERMINT (R) 4:20 I 9:15 CRAZY RICH ASIANS (PG13) 1:30 I 4:15 I 7:00 I 9:45 FINAL SCORE (R) 2:15 I 5:00 I 7:30 I 10:00 CHRISTOPHER ROBIN (PG) 1:50 I 6:45 THE MEG (PG13) 1:00 I 3:40 I 7:15 I 9:50 VIEQUES, Puerto Rico (AP) – As weeks turned into months, the seats of the small plane began to empty out. In the beginning, 15 pas- sengers flew from Vieques to the Puerto Rican mainland – refugees from Hurricane Maria. The storm had ruined the only dialysis center on this tiny island, their home; without treatment, the kidney patients would die. But the thrice-weekly trips have taken a toll on these frail patients. Five have died in this past year from causes ranging from heart failure to cancer, but advocates insist that the very flights that keep the patients alive have has- tened their deaths. The mortality rate is “a high number,” said Angela Diaz, director of the nonprofit Renal Council of Puerto Rico. “We obviously cannot dis- miss the fact that these are not appropriate conditions. It’s vital that (the govern- ment) take action as soon as possible …. As much as they want to avoid the topic, we have to talk about how we’re still doing this one year after Maria.” As dire as the situation may be, it could get worse. A mobile unit, purchased by federal officials to provide di- alysis on Vieques, is stuck in California; the Renal Council, which is paying for the di- alysis flights, says it will run out of money to do so by month’s end. “If they take away our flights, we will end up dying,” said Elias Salgado, a 56-year- old renal patient who is dia- betic and suffers from high blood pressure. “There are not many of us left. The Vieques dialysis center was located in the is- land’s only medical clinic, which officials declared contaminated and ordered it demolished. At first, the Federal Emer- gency Management Agency assumed responsibility, then nonprofits including Vi- equesLove and Americares. Since March, the Renal Council has been paying for the flights, which take just 20 minutes. But the journey is far longer. The patients wake up be- fore dawn, wait at the air- port for the plane to arrive, clamber aboard and then, once they reach the main- land, wait for transportation to the clinic. There, they sit for four hours as their blood flows through a filter and returns cleansed of toxins. Then they repeat the same routine to get home, arriving about 12 hours after they started their day. “It’s exhausting,” Salgado said. “You don’t get used to this,” chimed in Edwin Al- varado, a 59-year-old dial- ysis patient who also has high blood pressure and had open heart surgery five months after Maria. A paramedic took Al- varado’s blood pressure on a recent Saturday be- fore the flight: “It’s high,” the paramedic warned, “180 over 110.” Alvarado shrugged. Like Salgado, he’d love to move to the U.S. mainland and live close to a dialysis clinic, but he has nowhere to stay and cannot afford to leave Vieques and find some- where new to live. Salgado has another reason to stay: He’s on Puerto Rico’s transplant list. “I could be called at any moment,” he said. Both men cheered up as a third dialysis patient, Leyla Rivera, strolled into the airport and lobbed small packets of vanilla cream cookies at each of them. She sat down with a sigh. At 45, she is one of the youngest patients on the flight, and even she struggles to find the energy. “Sometimes you come out of treatment dizzy, vomiting,” said Rivera, who is seeking a spot on the transplant list. The mother of an autistic child, she is forced to skip two days of work every week because of the flights. Before 7:30 a.m., the plane takes off. Less than an hour later, an ambu- lance with flashing lights pulled up to the airport. In- side lay 42-year-old Sandra Medina, another dialysis patient with diabetes and high blood pressure. Doc- tors amputated half her leg after an infection that wors- ened months ago. She smiled slightly and confided that she’s a nervous flyer, and that sometimes she loses hope. “We go through a lot,” she said. Salgado’s doctor, Jose Figueroa, worries about the effects of such exhausting travel. He likens it to insisting that someone walk home after running a marathon. “Eventually those patients, who already are fragile, will keep worsening,” he said. A year of this, he said, was “unacceptable.” Survivors of those who have died over the past year acknowledge that their loved ones were very sick, but they believe they need not have perished. Hector Serrano, 57, was co-pastor of a Vieques church. He died in mid-Au- gust of cancer and other ailments. Said his sister, Magali Rivera: “It’s a crime what they’re doing to these renal patients …. He [Hector] would have been by our side for longer.” Peter Quinones, spokesman for the Puerto Rican health secretary, Dr. Rafael Rodríguez Mercado, did not respond to several requests for comment on why Vieques still has no di- alysis center. Or why the de- partment has not paid to have the $3 million mobile clinic FEMA purchased de- livered to Vieques. Legislators in Puerto Rico have pledged that the clinic will soon ar- rive, although they have not said when. Daisy Cruz, deputy mayor of Vieques, said she is in constant communica- tion with FEMA but receives limited answers from local health authorities. Meanwhile, money is running out to pay for those flights. “Where is the conscience? Where is the humanity?” Cruz asked, tearing up. “It’s always, ‘We don’t have the money, we don’t have the money, we don’t have the money.’ But they’re putting at risk lives that we could prolong.” Paramedics wheel 42-year-old dialysis patient Sandra Medina onto the runway to be transferred to a plane at the airport in Vieques and then transported by ambulance to the Fresenius dialysis treatment clinic in Humacao, September 8. - PHOTOS: AP Argeo Caraballo, 70, is buried at the municipal cemetery in Vieques, Puerto Rico. Caraballo was one of the dialysis patients who died after Hurricane Maria ruined the only dialysis center on this tiny island. Police make arrests for cocaine, DUI Police arrested a 30-year- old man on suspected co- caine offenses after stopping his car on Walkers Road early Monday morning. Officers on patrol stopped the grey Honda Fit the man was driving and detected a scent of ganja coming from the car, po- lice said. They searched the driver and the car and found a container with sev- eral packets of cocaine in- side. The man, of George Town, was arrested on sus- picion of possession and consumption of ganja, pos- session of cocaine with in- tent to supply, and con- sumption of cocaine. He remained in police cus- tody Wednesday. DUI arrests Police also made five arrests for DUI over the weekend of Sept. 14-16. In one incident, on Friday, Sept. 14, at about 11 p.m., officers on patrol on Shedden Road came upon a traffic collision at the intersection of North Sound Road. A silver BMW and a black Honda Fit had collided. Officers spoke to the drivers of both vehicles and detected the scent of al- cohol on the breath of the Honda driver. They also de- termined that the insur- ance and registration of the Honda were expired. A roadside breath test was conducted and the driver, a 29-year-old woman of George Town, was ar- rested on suspicion of DUI with a reading of 0.105 per- cent, in addition to driving without insurance and using a vehicle with ex- pired registration. She was later bailed. MEXICO STOPS HOTEL PROJECT AT SEA TURTLE NESTING BEACH MEXICO CITY (AP) — En- vironmental authorities in Mexico say they have denied permits for a proposed hotel near one of Mexico’s most important sea turtle nesting beaches on the Caribbean. The 520-room hotel project would have erected 23 buildings and an artificial lake on property just inland from the Xcacel beach, north of the resort of Tulum. The federal Environment Department said in state- ment late Monday the project could threaten Xcacel, and called it “the site with the largest observed nesting of sea turtles on the entire Yu- catan Peninsula.” The beach is a nesting site for loggerhead, hawksbill and green sea turtles, and part of the land is considered a protected area. But parts of the property behind the beach have been the target of real estate devel- opment plans since the late 1990s. Environmental au- thorities have turned down at least one previous proposed “eco hotel” project there. Some environmental groups had been pushing Pena Nieto for a near-total ban on almost all fishing in the upper Gulf of Cali- fornia, also known as the Sea of Cortez. Some activists had pro- posed the ban to protect the critically endangered vaquita porpoise, of which fewer than 30 remain. Vaquitas have been dec- imated by nets set for the totoaba fish, whose swim bladder is considered a del- icacy in China and com- mands high prices. Puerto Rico dialysis patients fear death a year after MariaThe islands’ most-trusted news source 3 CAYMAN COMPASS • THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 20, 2018 175791-Ad-Compass-FP-Gala.indd 19/17/18 1:38:34 PMThe 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. An unexplained investigation. An unexplained absence. An unexplained retirement. Roydell Carter’s 25-year-plus career in the Cayman Islands civil service, apparently, is over. But govern- ment officials have not yet begun to provide adequate information to Cayman’s public about the circum- stances surrounding the departure of the director of the Department of Environmental Health or the (pre- sumably ongoing) auditors’ inquiry into the important and embattled agency, which has responsibility for the country’s landfills and garbage collection. Government officials are mistaken if they hope that handing Mr. Carter the proverbial gold watch will erase public memory or satisfy legitimate curiosity about the DEH’s seemingly chronic dysfunction. Since late 2017, (when we learned the DEH was spending $100,000 per month in overtime for routine garbage collection), it has been one misfire after another – spotty garbage collection, a missing depart- ment head, confusion over derelict vehicle disposal – any one of which would be sufficient cause for a full and public accounting. Instead, the public has been treated to flimsy and unsatisfying explanations that have shifted over time. At various points in the drawn-out saga, we were told to blame a lack of functional garbage trucks, shortage of staff, employee absenteeism, illness and vacation, personnel management and backlogs created during previous weeks. Mr. Carter’s unexplained leave occurred at roughly the same time the Internal Audit Service conducted an inquiry into his department’s management of overtime. In fairness, these two events may have been contemporaneous but unrelated. In January, Ministry of Health Chief Officer Jennifer Ahearn denied that Mr. Carter’s leave was the result of disciplinary action. However, she declined to offer any clarification what- soever about the actual circumstances. When announcing Mr. Carter’s retirement, Ms. Ahearn doubled down on government’s obfus- cation, saying simply: “Mr. Roydell Carter has opted to retire from the civil service. The current Acting Director Richard Simms will continue to act in that role while we undertake the process to identify a new Director for DEH.” She did not respond to follow-up questions inquiring about Mr. Carter’s nine-month hiatus or whether any financial settlement had been involved. She would not even tell a reporter how long Mr. Carter had been employed. Ms. Ahearn’s opaque remarks on the circumstances surrounding nine months of “absenteeism” by a high- ranking civil servant borders on disdain for the public that employs her and, we would argue, that she is entrusted to inform. Also unacceptably silent on this long-festering matter are Minister Dwayne Seymour, whose respon- sibilities include the Department of Environmental Health, and Acting Governor Franz Manderson, who oversees the Civil Service. By no measure can nine months of unexplained absence by a highly visible, highly paid public servant be considered a “private personnel matter” that is, in effect, “none of the public’s business.” The Cayman Compass has requested relevant information – including the cost to the public purse of this entire matter – through an open records request, the results of which, readers can be assured, we will disclose. The public has a right to know what went wrong in the DEH to cause such a tumultuous year, and what – specifically – is being done to ensure the depart- ment is run efficiently, effectively and professionally going forward. Carter retirement: Government silence is unacceptable THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 20, 2018 • CAYMAN COMPASS Frenzied parenting in a time of fear WASHINGTON – Police came to Kim Brooks’ par- ents’ door in suburban Rich- mond, Virginia, demanding that her mother say where her daughter was or be ar- rested for obstructing jus- tice. So began a Kafkaesque two-year ordeal that plunged Brooks into reflections about current parenting practices. It also produced a book, “Small Animals: Parenthood in the Age of Fear,” that is a catalogue of symptoms of America’s descent into unfo- cused furiousness. On a mild day, rushing to catch a plane home to Chi- cago, she darted into a Vir- ginia Target to make a pur- chase, leaving her 4-year-old son in the locked car with a window slightly open. After five minutes, during which the car was in her view near the store’s door, she drove away. Before she boarded the plane to O’Hare, the po- lice were in pursuit, sum- moned by a bystander who gave them Brooks’ license plate number and an iPhone video of the boy in the car. The video was supposedly evidence of a crime, “con- tributing to the delinquency of a minor.” A five-minute contribution. Brooks’ penitential ac- knowledgment of “a lapse in judgment” attested to her immersion in the prevalent weirdness about parenting. She is an anxious person. She medicates before flying, although she acknowledges how safe flying is compared with driving. She worries about “stranger danger,” al- though she knows “the sta- tistical near impossibility” of child abductions that, al- ways rare, are rarer than ever. She knows that risk assess- ment is a basic test of ratio- nality that she and so many other parents flunk. Today, well past her sentence of 100 hours of community service and 20 hours of parenting in- struction, Brooks, who calls herself “an uncritical con- sumer of anxiety,” also knows the following: Because of the belief in “parental determinism,” mothers, especially, are sus- ceptible to the fear that something seemingly minor that is done or left undone will impede Suzy’s path to Princeton and Congress. On what Brooks calls “the land- scape of competitive, in- tensive, hypercontrolling parenthood” there is “perfor- mance” parenting, the con- stant mentioning – which means shaming parents with different approaches – of Billy’s myriad “enrichment” activities. Helicopter par- ents, who hover over their progeny all the way to col- lege, subscribe to the belief – a neurosis, really – that “a child cannot be out of an adult’s sight for one second.” The practical implication is that parenthood is a middle- class entitlement; poor people need not apply. Heli- copter parents are indignant – indignation is the default setting of millions of people for whom the personal is po- litical – about “free-range” parents who allow their children to walk alone to, and play unsupervised in, a neighborhood park. No wonder children who have never had unstructured play and never had to negotiate their disputes with one an- other flinch in bewilderment from the open society of a well-run campus. Brooks cites a psychol- ogist who notes that tech- nology has made it easier not just to monitor others with smartphone videos (“vigilante parent policing”), but also to critique and con- demn others. And to dis- tribute digital disapproval, reinforcing a supposed moral and intellectual hier- archy of mothers, wherein the best are the most cau- tious, most irrationally afraid, most risk-averse. Brooks wonders how parenting became “a laby- rinth of societal anxieties,” a toxic compound of “compet- itiveness and insecurity,” an arena of “chronic, gnawing perfectionism.” Start here: Why did the noun “parent” become a verb? Brooks says that “observing the arc of parenting norms” since World War II suggests that within the last 10 years we have “reached peak mad- ness.” If only. Contemporary America is a bubbling cauldron of acidic judgmentalism, a stew of status anxieties, of preening about lifestyle fads, and of nasty habits learned from government: Brooks seems to understand that “the crimi- nalization of parenthood” oc- curs “within the confines of an oppressive and infan- tilizing nanny state.” The ever-metastasizing adminis- trative state’s rage to regu- late bleeds into a pandemic urge to criminalize more and more of life, and to excoriate and shame those whose be- haviors cannot (yet) be for- mally punished. It is not unrelated that whenever a third-rate come- dian or an adjunct professor of gender studies at a third- tier college says something politically idiotic or – which is much the same thing – cul- turally “insensitive,” internet hordes who are happy only when unhappy become ec- statically enraged: A brain map might show their plea- sure receptors ablaze, as if stimulated by another con- trolling addiction, cocaine. Parenting will become in- creasingly frenzied as does the national culture of which such parenting is symptom- atic. Such parenting is a transmissible social disease: People often parent as they were parented. George Will’s email address is georgewill@washpost.com. © 2018, Washington Post Writers Group GEORGE F. WILL Because of the belief in “parental determinism,” mothers, especially, are susceptible to the fear that something seemingly minor that is done or left undone will impede Suzy’s path to Princeton and Congress. 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”5 LOCAL NEWS CAYMAN COMPASS • THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 20, 2018 Don’t Get TRAPPED at Home. Call 233-4427 or order your tank refills online at cleangas.ky Lower propane prices are a Clean choice. You are free to choose your propane supplier. Don’t be misled by long-term contracts! They do NOT guarantee low pricing. And you can break free! Clean Gas is the clean choice. We offer everyday low prices and deliver 20lb, 100lb or 200lb propane tanks directly to your home. Did you know? Churchill’s Funeral Home Condolences can be registered at: www.churchillsfuneralhome.com We have been asked to announce the passing of Mr. Oswald Barrington Charles Gregory, who passed away on Sunday, September 02, 2018. A Thanksgiving Service will be held at First Baptist Church, Crewe Rd, George Town, on Saturday, September 22, 2018 at 11:00 a.m. Viewing will be from 10:00 - 10:45 a.m. Please make donations at Hopscotch Productions that will go towards the music programs for the Cayman Islands Primary School. Interment follows at Prospect Cemetery. National basketball coaches announced Tryouts begin in October KEN SILVA ksilva@pinnaclemedialtd.com As the Cayman Islands Basketball Association gears up for next July’s Island Games in Gibraltar, it was announced on Wednesday that Edwin Pellot-Rosa and Duran Whittaker will coach the men’s national team, while Wendy Manzanares and Corey McGee will head up the women’s squad. The men’s team will have a bullseye on its back next July, when it will defend the gold medal it won at the last Island Games in 2017. Coach Pellot-Rosa said that with an infusion of young talent coupled with his returning veterans, he thinks his team is up for the chal- lenge to capture another gold. “We want to make sure we return with a stronger team,” he said. “How the youth is looking, it’s setting the tone for bright things to happen for Cayman basketball.” Coach Pellot-Rosa said he plans to have his team play fast-paced, full-court bas- ketball. With a shorter-than- average team, the men will focus on speed and intensity rather than relying on size and physicality, he said. “The day we start breeding some 7-footers, we may adjust,” added CIBA Technical Director Victor “Voot” O’Garro. “But for now, we’re in your face – we’ll ‘smell your bubble gum.’” With similar issues facing the women’s team, Coach McGee said the women will also play an up-tempo style of basketball. “It’s about intensity on defense and picking up full court,” he said. The women’s team did not win a gold medal at the last Island Games, but has won two golds and one bronze since CIBA started sending teams to the tournament in 1999. The 2017 gold medal is the men’s first one after win- ning silver four times. But while winning the Is- land Games is a nice accom- plishment in itself, Mr. O’Garro said it’s also a stepping-stone for a much larger goal: quali- fying for the Olympics. The new John Gray bas- ketball gym will go a long way toward accomplishing that goal, he said. It will allow Cayman to host more international tournaments and scrimmages, giving the teams more experi- ence playing against high- level competition. “Our real objective is qual- ifying for the Olympics,” he said. “Coming from an island so small, it’s going to take us a little while. But that’s where we’re heading.” Tryouts for the teams start in early October. The Cayman Islands Basketball Association announced the coaches for the men’s and women’s national teams on Wednesday. Pictured from left are men’s coaches Duran Whittaker and Edwin Pellot-Rosa, CIBA Technical Director Victor O’Garro, CIBA President Richard Parchment, and women’s coaches Wendy Manzanares and Corey McGee. – PHOTO: KEN SILVA CIFEC HOSTS CAREER FAIR The Cayman Islands Fur- ther Education Centre will host a career fair Friday, Sept. 21 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in its library with the goal of connecting Year 12 students with prospective employers and internship opportunities. Students are encouraged to bring their resumes. Em- ployers will represent in- dustries such as aviation, banking, hospitality, con- struction, education, health- care and media. “The purpose is for stu- dents to engage with em- ployers and make a great impression, in order to be se- lected for an unpaid intern- ship position running from October 2018 to mid-April 2019,” said a release from the Ministry of Education. The internships require students to work two days a week, and offer mentoring. For more information, contact careers@cifec.edu.ky or 926-1665. POLICE INVESTIGATE TWO VEHICLE COLLISIONS Police are investigating two car crashes in which people were injured Tuesday. Three vehicles were involved in one of the crashes, which occurred on Owen Roberts Drive. According to police, a GMC truck was exiting the Cayman Islands Customs headquar- ters when it collided with a Honda vehicle that was heading west along the road. The impact pushed the Honda into a parked Ford E-150 van. In the second incident, po- lice and other emergency ser- vices were dispatched to a col- lision along Elgin Avenue, near the Cayman National Bank roundabout. Two vehicles were involved in that accident. The Traffic and Roads Po- licing Unit is investigating both collisions.The islands’ most-trusted news source 6 Community CALENDAR ■ COMMUNITY CALENDAR is published TUESDAYS and THURSDAYS. It is available to charitable or nonprofit organizations. Items should be submitted at least three working days before publication. Information must include name of sender, signature and contact number. ■ Items may be faxed to 949-2662, brought to the Cayman Compass office on Shedden Rd. or emailed to cwinker@pinnaclemedialtd.com at least three days in advance of publication. THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 20, 2018 • CAYMAN COMPASS THURSDAY, SEPT. 20 LOCKED INN: Fundraiser for One Dog at a Time. Assemble a team with up to six players, solve puzzles and obtain clues to escape from your chosen room within 45 minutes – Outbreak, Pirates Cellar, Asylum or Death Row. 6 p.m. $300 per team or $50 per person. Ticket price includes buffet and two complimentary drinks. Teams must be registered and paid for by Sept. 13. Later time slots will be available depending on number of teams. SATURDAY, SEPT. 22 HEALTH FAIR: The Savannah United Church presents Total Wellness Health Fair, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the church. There will be free health screening, personal consultation with health practitioners and pharmacists corner for Brown Bagging. There will also be health talks and prayer stations. Prizes for the first 50 attendees. The Savannah United Church is behind the Rubis Station. CARIBBEAN BREAKFAST: The Lions PACCE committee cooks up a Caribbean Breakfast at the Lions Centre, 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. The breakfast is the last opportunity for prospective participants to register, collect bibs and T-shirts for the 7th annual Delano Hislop 15 Mile Walk/Run on Sunday. BRAC 5K: Lions Clubs present the Brenda Tibbetts-Lund Memorial 5K Walk/Run. Starts 6 a.m. High School to Hospital and back. $10 registration. Contact 928-5800 for more information. SUNDAY, SEPT. 23 LIONS PACCE: Prostate and Colon Cancer Event. Delano Hislop Memorial Walk/Run. 5, 10 or 15 miles. 5 a.m. from West Bay Road Public Beach. Registration fee, $25. Phone 917-7223 or register at www.caymanactive.com. THURSDAY, SEPT. 27 BRAC COURT: Summary Court sits in the Aston Rutty Centre from 10 a.m. today and tomorrow. PALLIATIVE CARE: The Caribbean Palliative Care Conference, presented by Cayman HospiceCare, takes place 1:30-8 p.m. at the Westin Resort & Spa. No registration fee, but RSVP is required. Email info@caymanhospicecare.ky. Healthcare professionals can earn a total of 4.5 contact hours. FRIDAY, SEPT. 28 MUSICAL PRESENTATION: Members of the public are invited to attend a musical presentation by visiting Jamaican rising start, soprano signer Sashekia Brown, at special services at the King’s Adventist Church today and tomorrow. Today’s performance by Ms. Brown and a number of choirs and chorales begins at 7 p.m. For further information, call 938-2209. SATURDAY, SEPT. 29 MUSICAL PRESENTATION: Soprano singer Sashekia Brown and a number of choirs and chorales will perform at the Kings Adventist Church, at two special services today, at 11.30 a.m. and at 4.30 p.m. All are invited. The weekend’s series of free musical attractions are sponsored by the Cayman chapter of the Northern Caribbean University Alumni Association. For further information, call 938-2209. BARGAIN SHOP BAG SALE: The NCVO’s New To You Bargain Shop invites customers to buy a bag for $5 and fill it to the brim with items they find in the store. The sale is 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. Lightly used products on sale include Halloween costumes, household items, baby supplies (strollers, cribs, carrier seats), stuffed animals and toys, clothes (including select school uniforms), shoes, books and craft items. MONTHLY BARGAIN STORE: St. George’s Anglican Church holds its monthly Bargain Store sale 7-11 a.m. Located 64 Courts Road (off Eastern Ave. opposite Kirk Market), George Town. All are invited. CLAY WORKSHOP: Visual Arts Society studio at Pedro St. James. Today and tomorrow, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fee is $150 for members, $175 for non-members. Includes terracotta clay, glazes, firing, use of tools and studio plus light lunch and beverage. Limited space. Register at workshops@ visualartcayman.com. SUNDAY, SEPT. 30 5K FOR RECOVERY: Hope Foundation sponsors this 5K walk/run to raise funds for the residential recovery program. Start at Seven Mile Public Beach. Walk, 6 a.m. Run, 6:30 a.m. Tickets $10 from Brent, 928-9099; or Chris, 938-0095. Prizes include staycations. GENERAL INTEREST PRE-SCHOOL OPENINGS: Miss Nadine’s Preschool still has space available in its two-year-old class. To register your child(ren), contact Preschool Director Heather Lopez on 945-1078/324-1498 or email ncvopreschool@ncvo.org.ky Miss Nadine’s is a program of the NCVO (registered nonprofit) and is located in the Richard Arch Children’s Centre, 90A Anthony Drive, George Town. SPECIAL OLYMPICS: Be a volunteer and join the fun as athlete training begins at Truman Bodden Sports Complex 5:30 p.m. for basketball skills, track, bocce and football. Swimming on Wednesdays at the Lions Pool 10-11 a.m. or on Saturdays at the Cayman International School pool, 9:30 a.m. Email soci@candw.ky or call 916-2600 for more information. TOBACCO LICENCES: Tobacco license holders are reminded of the 5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 1 deadline to apply for their annual license renewals. Annual registration renewal fees are $500 for a retailer, $750 for a cigar bar and $5,000 for a wholesale distributor. Persons in Grand Cayman must submit their applications at the Business Licensing Counter, first floor, Government Administration Building. In the Sister Islands, applications must be submitted to DCI Senior Licensing Officer, Mrs. Lolita Bodden-Arch, in the Bodden and Bodden building on Cayman Brac. CAYMAN ARTISTS INVITED: Artists resident in the Cayman Islands or artists of the Caymanian diaspora are invited to submit photos of work (or work concept drawings/photos), with an accompanying artist’s statement relating the work to the exhibition synopsis for consideration, in electronic format, directed to the attention of the curator at assistantcurator@ nationalgallery.org.ky. Deadline for submission is Monday, Nov. 26 2018 at 5 p.m. For more information contact public.engagement@ nationalgallery.org.ky. SEAFARERS HALL: The Cayman Islands Seafarers Association wishes to inform the community that the hall is now available for rental every day of the week, including Saturdays, as the church is no longer contracted with us at 11 Victory Ave. Prospect. LOCAL HARVEST MARKET: Wednesdays and Saturdays at Camana Bay. A produce-only market featuring local farmers. Located in Heliconia Court (the new courtyard next to the building containing Scotiabank). 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. U.K. SCHOLARSHIPS: The Chevening Secretariat is accepting applications for U.K. Government scholarships to study in the U.K. in 2019/2020. Applications for Chevening Scholarships are open until Nov. 6, 2018, with applications to be submitted via www.chevening. org/apply. Visit www. chevening.org/apply/ guidance for detailed information on the eligibility criteria and scholarship specifications. Contact Gill Skinner on 244-2431 or gillian.skinner@fco.gov.uk. NEW THRIFT SHOP: One Dog At A Time has launched its “New To You” Thrift Shop. Open Saturdays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdays 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. throughout the summer. The shop is at Unit 26 at the warehouses on Bodden Road, which runs down the side of Kirk Home Store to the old screen print place. BETHESDA COUNSELLING CENTRE: Caters to all who seek help. Open Monday to Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at 68 Mary St. Appointments available Saturdays and late evenings. Owned and operated by the United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. Call 946-6575. HUMANE SOCIETY BOOK LOFT: North Sound Road. Open Monday 12:30-4 p.m.; Tuesday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday 5:30-7:30 p.m. Volunteers needed for front desk a few hours per week. Email humanesocietybookloft@ candw.ky or call 946-8053. Donations of books, games, CDs, stationery, DVDs, cards etc. in good condition always needed. COMMUNITY CHESS: Tuesdays 5-8 p.m., West Indies Wine Company. Join the Cayman Chess Club for a complimentary chess class and open challenges weekly. Anyone can learn to play and enjoy chess, even beginners. ART OPEN CANVAS: At KARoo Restaurant in Camana Bay, Wednesdays 7-11 p.m. Artists of all levels are welcome to come and enjoy painting and socializing with other artists. Includes use of easels, lights, space, beverage ticket. No fee. For more information, contact info@visualartcayman.com or jar.was@gmail.com. VISUAL ARTS SOCIETY: Adult Open Studio available to those who want to work independently in an inspiring atmosphere. Wednesdays for adults, 9 a.m. till noon. Thursdays Adults and Youth, 10 a.m. till noon. Watler House Art Studio, Pedro St. James. Fee is $5/$15 or Ceramics. $15 pp/$25 pp non-members. Includes use of studio, glazes, and ceramic tools. Clay available $30 per bag/fee for kiln usage. To register, call 546-9422 or email info@visualartcayman.com. CLUBS, ORGANIZATIONS ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS: Meets daily to help with drinking problems. Call 926-9044 or visit www.caymanaa.org. NARCOTICS ANONYMOUS: Is available for substance abuse help. Call the info line at 929–NANA (6262). AL-ANON GROUP MEETING: Are you troubled by someone’s drinking? Al-Anon Family Groups can help. Call 928-8843 or email caymanalanon@gmail.com for meeting times. OVERCOMERS OUTREACH: A Christ-centered 12-step recovery group addresses addictions and those affected by them. Meetings at Cayman Islands Baptist Church, Pedro Castle Road, Tuesdays, 7:15 p.m. For details, contact Vanessa Gilman at 946-2422, or visit www.overcomersoutreach.org. DEMENTIA/ALZHEIMER’S SUPPORT GROUP: This group meets on the last Wednesday of each month at ADACI’s office, 4th floor, Cardinall Plaza, 30 Cardinall Ave., George Town. Call 924-4170 or email info@adacayman.com. GRAND CAYMAN TOASTMASTERS: Club meets each Thursday 6-7:15 p.m. on 3rd Floor, George Town Public Library. Visitors and guests welcome. The local contact is George R. Ebanks, 322-9369 or Grand Cayman Toastmasters club on Facebook. Email info@ toastmastersclub2686.org. ROTARACT BLUE OF CAYMAN: Meets Wednesdays 6 p.m., at Royal Palms Beach Club, West Bay Road. Contact rotaractblue@gmail.com or www.rotaractblue.org. LEO CLUB OF GRAND CAYMAN: Meets first and third Wednesdays of the month, 6:30 p.m. at the Lions Community Centre. For more information, contact Secretary Letisha Allen at 924-2819. THE LIONS CLUB OF GRAND CAYMAN: Meets every first and third Thursday 7:30 p.m. at the Lions Community Centre. Email lionsclubgcm@hotmail.com. THE LIONS CLUB OF TROPICAL GARDENS: Meet every first and third Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at Elizabethan Square (corner unit). Members of the public are invited to attend. For more Community Calendar events, visit www.caymancompass.com/events. Free health screenings and personal consultations with medical professionals will be available at the Savannah United Church’s Total Wellness Health Fair, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 22, at the church.The islands’ most-trusted news source 7 CAYMAN COMPASS • THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 20, 2018 North Sound Plaza, North Sound Rd. Tel: 949-8543 Email: pools@poolpatrol.ky Web Site: www.poolpatrol.ky Closed For Inventory Pool Patrol The Pool & Spa Professionals Serving The Cayman Islands For Over 29 years We Would Like to Inform Our Customers That On Saturday September 22, We Will Be Closed For Our Annual Inventory Count. Please Stop By Our Store, Located In Industrial Park Across From Tortuga Rum, To Pick Up Any Needed Supplies Before This Saturday. DESIGN SERVICE SUPPLY North Sound Plaza, North Sound Rd. Tel: 949-8543 Email: pools@poolpatrol.ky Web Site: www.poolpatrol.ky Closed For Inventory Pool Patrol The Pool & Spa Professionals Serving The Cayman Islands For Over 29 years We Would Like to Inform Our Customers That On Saturday September 22, We Will Be Closed For Our Annual Inventory Count. Please Stop By Our Store, Located In Industrial Park Across From Tortuga Rum, To Pick Up Any Needed Supplies Before This Saturday. Wellness Centre owner Shannon Seymour said never in her 14 years in the building had she ever had anything like this happen. “It’s an inconvenience and a frightening thing for staff to have to go through … the good thing is all they took was a small amount of cash. No one was hurt and nothing of any value was taken,” she said. Virginia Gendron and Brittani McGregor, owners of The Bump Boutique, showed police a smashed glass pane near the front entrance to the store as a possible entry point. When Ms. Gendron and Ms. McGregor arrived at their shop Wednesday morning, they found the front door of the Wellness Centre next door was open, leading them to believe that that was the burglars’ exit point. Ms. Gendron said the shop’s stock was intact but a little money used for float was taken from the cash register. “There was at least two burglars minimum,” said Ms. Gendron. “That little hole they made to the Wellness Centre, I can’t get through. I think it was some skinny person,” she said inspecting the gaping hole left by the burglars. “It was just really mali- cious, like, nasty, nasty evil,” said Ms. McGregor. “Strata needs to take more precau- tion. We haven’t had security lights outside the block since we moved in.” Steve McField, owner of A. Steve McField and Associ- ates, said the burglars broke through the interior walls to get into his offices. “I was on my way to the radio station but usu- ally come by the office to wait for Gilbert McLean,” he said. “I got here around 6:05 a.m., turned on the lights and going into the office I noticed the shelf overturned and the books on the ground.” He came out of the building and called police. On Wednesday morning, scenes of crime officers were dusting the prem- ises for prints. “They pulled out drawers, pushed down books, went though the files for money, but did not take any equip- ment,” Mr. McField said. “Then they tried smashing the wall in one office to get to Food for Thought. When that didn’t work, they went in the bathroom and smashed that wall, which led back into my office. They smashed an- other wall until they finally got through.” Police Inspector Courtney Myles of the Neighbourhood Police Department, who was at the scene Wednesday, said he had talked to the propri- etors of the premises that had been hit by the burglars. there is currently a restric- tion on anyone owning more than 10 percent of the bank’s shares, and that the restric- tion would have to be re- moved for the transaction to be finalized. Before then, the board will submit a brief state- ment on the offer, as well as a directors’ circular that will contain the board’s views on the offer, according to the local bank. The circular will include a report by De- loitte about whether the offer is “fair and reasonable,” Cayman National stated. Mr. Dack said he expects the cir- cular to be sent to share- holders within 10 days. “Ultimately, the deci- sion will be up to the share- holders,” he said. Cayman National origi- nally announced the poten- tial sale on Aug. 6. The Republic Bank Trin- idad and Tobago (Barbados) Ltd. is a wholly owned sub- sidiary of the Republic Finan- cial Holdings Ltd., which also owns banks in Guyana, Gre- nada, Suriname and Ghana, according to its website. The institution’s website says that it was originally called Colonial Bank when it was formed in 1837. Colonial Bank was Trinidad and Tobago’s first commercial bank, the website states, adding that Republic Bank has more than 4,000 em- ployees in Trinidad alone. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Trinidad bank moves to acquire Cayman National swimming, Mr. Levers in- structed the boys to come back to shore, but Risco began to struggle and call for help. Court documents state that one of the boys unsuccessfully tried to help Risco, and that Messrs. Levers and Stewart ob- served but did not attempt to rescue him. Mr. Levers called 911, but did not help because he said he “is not a strong swimmer and was con- cerned about the undercur- rent,” states the complaint filed by Assistant U.S. At- torney Francis Viamontes. Risco was pronounced dead later that day as a result of drowning, and Messrs. Levers and Stewart were placed on leave while police opened investiga- tions into the death. Both men face charges of manslaughter and child cruelty. But while Mr. Stewart has been at- tending court appear- ances – he has filed an application to dismiss the charges that are scheduled to be heard in Grand Court on Sept. 27 – Mr. Levers allegedly left Cayman for Jamaica in September 2016. According to court documents, Cayman po- lice traveled to Jamaica to interview Mr. Levers in July 2017, but he had al- ready left the country for the U.S. earlier that month under the name Lionel Dwight Levers. Justice of the Peace Ce- cile Collins issued a war- rant for Mr. Levers’s arrest in January of this year. Mr. Levers has appar- ently been detained in the U.S., as the district court docket states that he is scheduled to have a bond hearing there on Thursday. The date for his extradition hearing will be determined at the bond hearing. Burglars smash through walls to rob four businesses CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Wayne O’Connor, Food for Thought owner, inspects the smashed wall through which the thieves got into his business from the A. Steve McField and Associates office. Virginia Gendron, co-owner of The Bump Boutique, shows a Cayman Business Park strata property representative a hole in the shop wall that burglars used to gain access to the Wellness Centre. - PHOTOS: JEWEL LEVY Ex-Boys Home staffer faces extradition for manslaughter CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 JUDGE PARTLY DISMISSES JUDD SUIT AGAINST WEINSTEIN LOS ANGELES (AP) – A fed- eral judge has thrown out part of a lawsuit Ashley Judd filed against Harvey Weinstein that alleges he deliberately derailed her career when she turned him down sexually. U.S. District Judge Philip S. Gutierrez on Wednesday dismissed the sexual harassment allega- tion in the lawsuit, ruling that the California law Judd was suing under does not apply to the pro- fessional relationship she and the movie mogul had at the time. Gutierrez gave Judd a month to amend and at- tempt to revive that sec- tion of the lawsuit, which her lawyer Theodore J. Boutrous Jr. says they intend to do. The judge kept alive Judd’s defamation claim against Weinstein, which alleges he falsely called her a “nightmare” to work with. Weinstein’s attorney Phyllis Kupferstein did not immediately reply to an email seeking comment. Police Inspector Courtney Myles speaks with Virginia Gendron and Brittani McGregor, owners of The Bump Boutique.The islands’ most-trusted news source 8 THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 20, 2018 • CAYMAN COMPASS Gaza protests escalate after blockade fails Palestinian protests are escalating after the failure of Egyptian-led efforts to broker a deal between the Islamic militant group Hamas and Israel to ease the Gaza blockade. In the third protest this week, Palestinians gathered Wednesday along Israel’s perimeter fence in Central Gaza Strip. Florence death toll climbs to 37; Trump visits stricken area Kim agrees to dismantle main nuke site if US takes steps too PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) – The leaders of North and South Korea announced a wide range of agreements Wednesday which they said were a major step toward peace on the Korean Penin- sula. But the premier pledge on denuclearization con- tained a big condition, with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un stating he’d perma- nently dismantle his main nuclear complex only if the United States takes unspeci- fied corresponding measures. Compared to the vague language of their two sum- mits earlier this year, Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in agreed in their second day of meetings to an ambi- tious program meant to tackle soaring tensions last year that had many fearing war as the North tested a string of in- creasingly powerful weapons. Kim promised to ac- cept international inspec- tors to monitor the closing of a key missile test site and launch pad and to visit Seoul soon, and both leaders vowed to work together to try to host the Summer Olympics in 2032. But while containing sev- eral tantalizing offers, their joint statement appeared to fall short of the major steps many in Washington have been looking for – such as a commitment by Kim to pro- vide a list of North Korea’s nuclear facilities, a solid step- by-step time line for closing them down, or an agreement to allow international inspec- tors to assess progress or discover violations. It also was unclear what “corresponding steps” North Korea wants from the U.S. to dismantle its nuclear site. The question is whether it will be enough for U.S. Pres- ident Donald Trump to pick up where Moon has left off. Trump, tweeting about the Korean leaders’ agreements, said, “Very exciting!” Declaring they had made a major step toward peace, Moon and Kim stood side by side as they announced the joint statement to a group of North and South Korean re- porters after a closed-door meeting Wednesday morning. They took no questions. “We have agreed to make the Korean Peninsula a land of peace that is free from nu- clear weapons and nuclear threat,” Kim said at the guest- house where Moon is staying. “The road to our future will not always be smooth and we may face challenges and trials we can’t anticipate. But we aren’t afraid of head- winds because our strength will grow as we overcome each trial based on the strength of our nation.” Kim and Moon earlier smiled and chatted as they walked down a hallway and into a meeting room to fi- nalize the joint statement, which also said that the leaders would push for a Ko- rean Peninsula without nu- clear weapons and to “elimi- nate all the danger of war.” Moon and Kim planned to visit a volcano sacred to the North on Thursday, the last day of Moon’s visit. This week’s summit comes as Moon is under increasing pressure from Washington to find a path forward in ef- forts to get Kim to completely – and unilaterally – abandon his nuclear arsenal. Trump has maintained that he and Kim have a solid relationship, and both leaders have expressed in- terest in a follow-up summit to their meeting in June in Singapore. North Korea has been demanding a declara- tion formally ending the Ko- rean War, which was stopped in 1953 by a cease-fire, but neither leader mentioned it Wednesday as they read the joint statement. In the meantime, how- ever, Moon and Kim made concrete moves of their own to reduce tensions on their border. According to a statement signed by the countries’ de- fense chiefs, the two Koreas agreed to establish buffer zones along their land and sea borders to reduce mili- tary tensions and prevent ac- cidental clashes. They also agreed to withdraw 11 guard posts from the Demilitarized Zone by December and to es- tablish a no-fly zone above the military demarcation line that bisects the two Koreas that will apply to planes, he- licopters and drones. Unlike Trump’s initial tweets praising the summit, the news brought a quick and negative response from Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, who tweeted that he was concerned the visit would undermine efforts by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and U.N. Ambas- sador Nikki Haley to im- pose “maximum pressure” on the North. “While North Korea has stopped testing missiles and nuclear devices, they have NOT moved toward denucle- arization,” he tweeted. WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) – The death toll from Hurricane Florence climbed to at least 37, including two women who drowned when a sher- iff’s van taking them to a mental health facility was swept away by floodwaters, and North Carolina’s gov- ernor pleaded with thou- sands of evacuees not to re- turn home just yet. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, arrived in storm- ravaged North Carolina on Wednesday and helped volun- teers at a church in the hard- hit coastal town of New Bern. “How’s the house?” Trump was heard asking one person as distributed plastic foam containers of food, including hot dogs, chips and fruit. “You take care of yourself.” Wilmington, population 120,000, was still mostly an island surrounded by flood- waters, and people waited for hours Tuesday for hand- outs of food, water and tarps. Thousands of others around the state waited in shelters for the all-clear. “I know it was hard to leave home, and it is even harder to wait and wonder whether you even have a home to go back to,” Gov. Roy Cooper said. After submerging North Carolina with nearly 3 feet of rain, the storm dumped more than 6.5 inches of rain in the Northeast, where it caused flash flooding. Cooper warned that the flooding is far from over and will get worse in places. “I know for many people this feels like a nightmare that just won’t end,” he said. Addressing roughly 10,000 people who remain in shelters and “countless more” staying elsewhere, Cooper urged them to stay put for now, particularly those from the hardest-hit coastal coun- ties that include Wilmington, near where Florence blew ashore on Friday. Roads remain treach- erous, he said, and some are still being closed for the first time as rivers swelled by tor- rential rains inland drain to- ward the Atlantic. At least 27 of the deaths happened in North Carolina. In South Carolina, two women died on Tuesday eve- ning when floodwaters from the Little Pee Dee River en- gulfed the van taking them to a mental health facility, au- thorities said. The risk of environmental damage mounted, as human and animal waste was washed into the swirling floodwaters. More than 5 million gal- lons of partially treated sewage spilled into the Cape Fear River after power went out at a treatment plant, of- ficials said, and the earthen dam of a pond holding hog waste was breached, spilling its contents. The flooding killed an estimated 3.4 mil- lion chickens and 5,500 hogs on farms. In Wilmington on Tuesday, workers began handing out supplies using a system re- sembling a giant fast-food drive-thru: Drivers pulled up to a line of pallets, placed an order and left without having to get out. A woman blew a whistle each time drivers had to pull forward. Todd Tremain needed tarps to cover up spots where Florence’s winds ripped shin- gles off his roof. Others got a case of bottled water or mil- itary MREs, or field rations. An olive-drab military forklift moved around huge pallets loaded with supplies. Brandon Echavarrieta struggled to stay composed as he described life post- Florence: no power for days, rotted meat in the freezer, no water or food and just one bath in a week. “It’s been pretty bad,” said Echavarrieta, 34, his voice breaking. About 3,500 vehicles came through for supplies on the first day they were avail- able, county officials said in a Facebook post. Supplies have been brought into the city by big military trucks and helicopters. At Fayetteville, about 100 miles inland, near the Ar- my’s sprawling Fort Bragg, flooding from Cape Fear River got so bad that au- thorities closed a vehicle bridge after the water began touching girders supporting the span’s top deck. Fayetteville Mayor Mitch Colvin said it was unclear if the bridge was threatened. “We’ve never had it at those levels before, so we don’t really know what the impact will be just yet,” he said. A resident looks out at the flooded entrance to his apartment complex near the Cape Fear River Tuesday as it continues to rise in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence in Fayetteville, North Carolina. – PHOTO: AP South Korean President Moon Jae-in, left, talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at Okryu-Gwan restaurant in Pyongyang, North Korea, Wednesday. - PHOTO: PYONGYANG PRESS CORPS POOL VIA AP9 WORLD&REGIONAL CAYMAN COMPASS • THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 20, 2018 EU chief says key parts of UK Brexit offer not good enough Port wine? Feta? Brexit may spell trouble for famed EU names PINHAO, Portugal (AP) – The scorching late summer sun of northern Portugal is ripening the black, super-sweet grapes that will go to make what European Union rules say is the only wine in the world that can be called port. Winemaking has for cen- turies been a way of life for many families here in the picturesque valley of the River Douro. It’s a tradition the EU regulations are de- signed to protect. “If it wasn’t for wine, the Douro region would be on its knees,” says 59-year-old Jose Pereira, a foreman for the Rozes port wine producer, as behind him two dozen local people pick the first grapes of the annual harvest. “Wine is our wealth.” For these workers and the local port wine pro- ducers, just like the makers of French Champagne, Greek feta cheese or Italy’s Parma ham, the EU’s name-protec- tion laws help ensure their livelihood by shielding them from industrial-scale, lower- cost copycats. But port wine’s second- largest export market is the United Kingdom, and the im- pending British exit from the EU is throwing port’s almost $58 million worth of annual business there into doubt. That is because London conspicuously is not saying whether after leaving the EU next year it will keep the bloc’s name protection rules. It could, for example, choose to let in rival port producers from the British Commonwealth, such as South Africa and Australia, as it casts around for post- Brexit trade deals. Authorities in the United States have long fought against the EU’s Geographical Identification laws, saying they amount to trade barriers – an argument that is not lost on the British government as it eyes closer business ties with Washington. Product name protection is not a minor issue. Last week, the EU’s Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier singled it out as one of the three main outstanding ques- tions, alongside a possible future border in Ireland and working out the post-Brexit EU-U.K. relationship. And it is likely to come up at an EU summit in Austria this week where leaders will assess the state of the Brexit talks. Enrico Bonadio, senior lecturer in intellectual prop- erty law at City, University of London, says Geographical Identification laws are “a very sensitive issue which could jeopardize the whole Brexit negotiations.” He believes the British government, aware that the U.K. is a major market for the more than 3,000 EU-pro- tected items, is using the issue as “a bargaining chip” to win advantages in other areas of the negotiations. EU protected names are prized by businesses. The labeling comes with strict regulations on produc- tion and is regarded as a quality guarantee that helps branding and sales. The EU says the scheme seeks to protect local econ- omies and cultures against misuse of names or imitations. The policy has been a flash point before, being a factor in holding up a trade deal between the EU and the United States, where Geo- graphical Identification rules fall under trademark law and where feta and parmesan, for example, are considered generic names. The Office of the United States Trade Representa- tive, in a report this year, described the EU rules as “harmful” for free trade and as “barriers on market access for American-made goods and services.” The U.S. Dairy Export Council, which is pressing Britain to drop the EU rules, says it is not wholly against protecting geograph- ical indications. “What we take issue with,” says Shawna Morris, its vice president for trade policy, “is the EU’s aggressive approach to GIs, in which it uses GIs as a way to monopolize certain markets of commonly pro- duced food categories, confis- cating generic terms like par- mesan and feta, even though such terms entered into ge- neric usage generations ago.” The nub of this argument is that while it is acceptable for Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese to come only from the region around the Italian city of Parma, not all parmesan cheese should be required to come from Italy. Portugal’s port wine in- dustry offers a look into how a protected name earns its special status and what’s at stake for families and busi- nesses in the Brexit talks. The Douro Valley has an abundance of arresting landscapes along an almost 120-mile stretch, reaching from the Atlantic almost into Spain. The spectacular scenery places it on a par with other outstanding Eu- ropean wine regions, such as the Rhine Valley in Germany or France’s Loire. The valley’s steep and stony slopes are scored with contours of green vines that ripple back from the river in corrugated lines. Terraces of ancient walls, hand-built in local brown slate, hold the soil in place. The quiet land- scape is punctuated with ridgetop clusters of white- washed houses and port wine estates called ‘quintas.’ Several factors, pro- ducers say, make this a sin- gular place: it has weather extremes, with summer heat well above 86 Fahrenheit and winter bringing snow and ice; grape varieties such as Touriga nacional, Tinta roriz and Barroca are unique to Portugal; the poor, bone- dry soil means fewer grapes but a high concentration of sugar; and the slopes, up to 2,000 feet high, offer varying angles of exposure to the sun. Trucks and tractors have replaced mules and oxen, but plenty has remained un- changed, including grape- treading in a knee-high granite tank called a ‘lagar.’ Port is the queen of Portu- guese wines. A bottle of 19th- century vintage port, which is the top of the range, can sell for over $3,500 at auction. It is a fortified wine, made by adding grape spirit to halt the fermentation and keep the grapes’ natural sweet- ness. It allows winemakers to produce deep, textured wines admired around the world. It is an ironic twist of Brexit that Britishness runs through the history of Portu- gal’s port wine. SALZBURG, Austria (AP) – Eu- ropean Council President Donald Tusk warned Britain on Wednesday that key parts of its offer to conclude Brexit talks are not satisfactory and must be revised, just six months before the country leaves the bloc. Speaking before chairing a summit of EU leaders in Sal- zburg, Austria, Tusk ramped up pressure on Prime Min- ister Theresa May’s Conser- vative government, saying time was fast running out to seal a Brexit deal. Britain will leave the EU at midnight on March 29, but both sides are desperate to reach an agreement in coming weeks to leave parliaments time to ratify any accord. Pointing to shortfalls in Britain’s position on keeping open the Irish border and on economic cooperation, Tusk said told reporters that “the U.K.’s proposals will need to be reworked and fur- ther negotiated.” The main stumbling block to concluding a Brexit deal is an agreement that would keep goods, services and people flowing between EU member state Ireland and Northern Ireland, which is part of the U.K. Both sides have made counter-offers in recent days, and May is ex- pected to urge EU leaders in Salzburg to compromise. Relying on pressure caused by the ticking clock, Tusk said “every day that is left we must use for talks. I would like to finalize them still this autumn.” He said he would urge the leaders to hold a new summit in mid- November, meaning that the heads of state and govern- ment would meet once a month to get the job done. EU chief Brexit negoti- ator Michel Barnier warned on Tuesday that the leaders’ Oct. 18 summit in Brus- sels would be “the mo- ment of truth.” But writing in German newspaper Die Welt, May said Britain “has evolved its position” and argued that “the EU will need to do the same.” She said that a di- vorce deal is within grasp if both sides show “good will and determination.” The border conundrum could yet dash those hopes. Both sides have pledged to ensure there’s no hard border around Northern Ireland. The EU is offering to de-facto keep the ter- ritory in the bloc without erecting a physical border. Barnier says that could be done by checking goods des- tined for Northern Ireland at companies and markets within the UK. But London says this would undermine the U.K. single market. May wants to keep the entire U.K. in the European single market and customs union for goods only, and for a limited time. For the EU though, that amounts to cherry picking the best parts of being an EU member. May argues that the U.K. and the EU face a choice be- tween her proposal – which would keep Britain aligned to the EU rulebook in re- turn for seamless trade in goods – and an economically disruptive Brexit in which Britain crashes out of Eu- rope without a deal. “Neither side can de- mand the unacceptable of the other, such as an ex- ternal customs border be- tween different parts of the United Kingdom,” May wrote in Die Welt. Barnier said the EU is not proposing “a border, neither on land or at sea.” “It is a set of technical controls and checks, a lot of which, most, can be put in place and carried out in places other than physically in Northern Ireland,” he said. Pro-Brexit members of May’s Conservative Party also oppose her deal, saying it would keep Britain teth- ered to the bloc, with no say over its rules and unable to strike new trade deals around the world. Pointing to shortfalls in Britain’s position on keeping open the Irish border and on economic cooperation, Tusk said told reporters that “the U.K.’s proposals will need to be reworked and further negotiated.” British Prime Minister Theresa May waits to greet her Maltese counterpart Joseph Muscat at 10 Downing Street, London, ahead of talks Monday. - PHOTO: PA WIRE Workers pick grapes on the slopes above the Tavora river where it meets the Douro river, in the background, Wednesday, Sept. 12 near Tabuaco, northern Portugal. - PHOTO: APNext >