ESTABLISHED 1965 www.caymancompass.com – 50 CENTS – TUESDAY FEBRUARY 19, 2019 High of 84 Low of 80 Slight to moderate with wave heights of 2 to 4 feet. EDITORIAL | PAGE 4 A ROYAL WELCOME TO CAYMAN’S ROYAL VISITORS LOCAL | PAGE 3 ORGANIZERS SAY KAABOO 2020 TICKETS AVAILABLE SOON OFREG PROPOSES ‘TRUTH IN ADVERTISING’ RULES FOR LICENSEES KEN SILVA ksilva@pinnaclemedialtd.com The Utility Regulation and Competition Of- fice, known as OfReg, has released a set of rules intended to make sure that the compa- nies it regulates do not market themselves in a manner considered deceptive or unfair. The rules address pricing statements, guar- antees and after-sales services, endorsements and testimonials, imitation and denigration, and other elements of marketing. The rules apply to service providers of water, telecommu- nications, fuel and wastewater. “All Marketing Communications should be truthful, and not deceptive or unfair,” OfReg’s rules state. “Any specific claims mentioned in Marketing Communications should be able to be substantiated with credible evidence.” OfReg defines advertisements as deceptive if they contain a statement, or omit information, that is likely to mislead reasonable consumers and is important to a consumer’s decision to buy or use the service or product. The regulator then defines advertisements as unfair if they cause or are likely to cause sub- stantial loss to the consumer which a consumer could not reasonably avoid, and this loss is not outweighed by the benefit to the consumer. When advertising pricing, content should in- clude fees and government surcharges and state- ments about the definite prices, and should not mislead by omission or distortion of information. And when a company makes a claim that it’s better than its competitors, that claim should be supported by credible evidence, “unless such claims are obvious puffery,” OfReg stated. Strong tourism growth forecast across Caribbean Young Cayman inventor joins fight against invasive lionfish JAMES WHITTAKER jwhittaker@pinnaclemedialtd.com The Caribbean Tourism Organization is forecasting strong growth in arrivals across the region in 2019 as hurricane-hit destinations continue their recovery from the destructive storm season of 2017. The Caribbean saw a 2.3 percent de- cline in arrivals last year, the CTO reports. But strong performance across the region in the latter half of the year has stoked confidence that this year will see signifi- cant growth in cruise and air arrivals. “We are projecting that tourist ar- rivals will increase by between 6 and 7 percent in 2019, as the damaged infra- structure in the hurricane-impacted des- tinations returns to capacity. Similarly, cruise arrivals should expand by a fur- ther 4 percent to 5 percent,” Ryan Skeete, CTO’s acting director of research, said at the Caribbean Tourism Performance Re- view news conference last week. The Cayman Islands was one of the highest performing destinations in the region last year, according to data from the CTO. Only Guyana, Belize and St. Kitts and Nevis saw higher percentage increases in air arrivals than the Cayman Islands’ 10.7 percent. It was a split picture across the region, however, with Puerto Rico, Sint Maarten and the U.S. Virgin Islands among the hurricane-impacted islands that saw a significant decline in arrivals. JAMES WHITTAKER jwhittaker@pinnaclemedialtd.com Artificial intelligence could be the latest weapon in the fight against invasive lionfish on Cayman’s reefs. Enterprise City based AI firm NeuralStudio is working on the technology for a hunter drone that could eventu- ally be used to seek out and catch lionfish. The idea came from Cayma- nian intern Matthew Elphin- stone, who worked with the company in the “summer in the city” internship program. With the help of Jack Copper, managing director of NeuralStudio, the mechanical engineering student developed a neural network that can iden- tify lionfish. Mr. Copper said the com- pany specializes in sophis- ticated software, known as neural networks, that can learn from data. “The neural network doesn’t care what the data is,” he added. By feeding images of lion- fish and other species through the software, the pair were able to create a specific neural net- work that was able to iden- tify lionfish. Using a miniature credit- card sized computer, known as a Raspberry Pi, rigged up to a camera and housed inside a waterproof dive bag, Mr. El- phinstone was able to field test the network on Cayman’s reefs. “I took pictures of various fish and it was able to display whether it was a lionfish or not, using LED lights.” He said the device was able to detect lionfish with 99.9 per- cent accuracy. The next step Tourists relax on Grand Cayman’s Seven Mile Beach in April last year. The Cayman Islands was one of the highest performing destinations in the region in 2018, according to data from the Caribbean Tourism Organization. - PHOTO: TANEOS RAMSAY PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 7 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 7 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 7 » Intern Matthew Elphinstone and Jack Copper, of NeuralStudio, show off their ‘proof of concept’ lionfish identification device.2 REGIONAL NEWS TUESDAY FEBRUARY 19, 2019 • 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. - TUESDAY - 640-FILM (640-3456) FIGHTING WITH MY FAMILY (PG13) 1:20 I 4:20 I 7:20 I 10:10 ALITA BATTLE ANGEL (PG13) 12:30 I 1:00 VIP I 3:50 VIP I 4:30 3D 9:50 VIP I 10:00 COLD PURSUIT (R) 3:20 I 6:45 I 9:30 THE UPSIDE (PG13) 1:15 I 7:15 THE LEGO MOVIE 2: THE SECOND PART (PG) 1:05 I 3:55 3D I 6:35 I 9:10 3D WHAT MEN WANT (R) 1:05 I 4:10 I 7:00 I 9:45 CLASSICS @ THE CINEMA: THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (1962) (PG13) 7:00 VIP Armed bar attack kills 5, wounds 5 more in Mexico’s Cancun BUS HITS DUMP TRUCK IN BOLIVIA; AT LEAST 24 REPORTED DEAD MEXICO CITY (AP) – Gunmen burst into a bar in the Carib- bean resort city of Cancun and opened fire, killing five people and wounding five more, authorities said Saturday. Quintana Roo state pros- ecutors said in a statement that the attack took place in a club called La Kuka, which is located on a main avenue in central Cancun about 4 miles away from the seaside tourist hotel zone. Prosecutors said four men carrying a long gun and three handguns entered and began shooting. Two of the injured were in critical condition. Violence has been rising in Cancun and Quintana Roo as a whole amid reports of the Jalisco New Genera- tion cartel moving into the area and fighting local gangs for control. Last month federal au- thorities reported that 774 people had been killed in the state last year, more than double the 359 killings re- corded in 2017. Also in January, gunmen shot and killed seven people at a house in Cancun, an in- cident that authorities attrib- uted to a dispute between street-level drug dealers. State police said at the time that a suspected gang leader linked to the Jalisco gang was believed to be behind the attack. LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) – A pas- senger bus crashed head- on with a dump truck in southern Bolivia on Monday, killing at least 24 people and injuring 12 more, police said. The accident oc- curred in a dense fog on the high-plains highway connecting Potosi and Oruro, about 135 miles south of the capital. Police said the bus was en route to Oruru from the town of Villazon on the Ar- gentine border. Police Col. Jose Pizarro told state television that the cause of the accident was under investigation. Two buses collided on the same highway in Jan- uary, killing 22 people. Nicaragua: New talks explored but opposition sets conditions MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) – President Daniel Ortega’s government announced it held talks on restarting a long-stalled dialog following political violence that left more than 300 dead last year, but the proposal was swiftly met with a raft of precondi- tions from opposition groups and civil society Sunday. The government said late Saturday that it had an “ex- change” with a group of pri- vate businesspeople in the presence of two Roman Cath- olic Church figures on re- suming talks over matters important to the country. “The need for an under- standing to begin a negotia- tion was confirmed, through an inclusive, serious and frank encounter,” the official statement said. It did not identify those who took part from the busi- ness sector, but said Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes and Apos- tolic Nuncio Waldemar Stan- islaw Sommertag attended. The Archdiocese of Managua confirmed the encounter. Brenes said Ortega and Rosario Murillo, Ortega’s powerful vice president and first lady, participated, along with business magnate Carlos Pellas and representa- tives of two private banks. “It was not a dialogue. It was an encounter that the businesspeople wanted to have with the president,” Brenes told journalists before celebrating Mass on Sunday. He added that “they are going to continue to talk” and that the church is open to partici- pating “when we are invited.” Government opponents said they were open to talks but set preconditions in- cluding the release of more than 700 people they consider “political prisoners,” complete freedom for the media and demonstrations, and the dis- banding of armed, pro-gov- ernment militias that part- nered with security forces in last year’s deadly crackdown on protesters who were de- manding Ortega leave office. The government has shut- tered some media outlets and non-governmental organiza- tions, arrested some journal- ists and effectively barred anti-Ortega protests. Violeta Granera of the Blue and White National Unity opposition group told The Associated Press she sees a possibility for talks “in a context where the re- gime understands that it is alone and weak.” Any dialog must “pass through a negotiation for the exit of the government,” Gra- nera said. “That negotiation, if it happens, must count on an atmosphere of peace that primarily signifies the release of the political prisoners and a halt to repression, with guarantees.” Jose Adan Aguerri, presi- dent of the influential busi- ness group COSEP, which is part of the opposition Civic Alliance that took part in talks last year, called the meeting an important step to- ward “opening a door that has been closed for a long time.” The unrest began last April as protests against a social security overhaul that would have lowered benefits and raised taxes on workers and employers, but amid the heavy-handed crackdown the protests expanded in scope and scale. Talks on ending the dis- pute were begun May 16 and suspended July 9 with no true progress. Ortega’s oppo- nents demanded he leave of- fice and for elections sched- uled for 2021 to be held early. The government rejected both, and instead quashed the protests by force. In recent days the gov- ernment affirmed that the elections will take place as scheduled in 2021. Government opponents said they were open to talks but set preconditions including the release of more than 700 people they consider “political prisoners.” A pro-government billboard featuring Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega and his wife, first lady and Vice President Rosario Murillo is destroyed by protesters, near a ‘Tree of Life’ sculpture in Managua, Nicaragua. – PHOTO: AP BARRED FROM VENEZUELA, EUROPEAN LAWMAKERS CALL FOR ACTION MADRID (AP) – Conserva- tive European lawmakers who were barred from entering Venezuela this weekend are urging the European Union’s top dip- lomat to suspend contacts with Nicolas Maduro’s government. Esteban Gonzalez Pons, the head of the European Popular Party parliamen- tary group, is also calling for European sanctions against Venezuela’s for- eign minister, Jorge Ar- reaza, who had ordered that the lawmakers should be barred on the grounds that they were conspiring against the government. The five visitors were invited by the opposition- led congress led by Juan Guaido, whom the Euro- pean Parliament and a ma- jority of the EU’s members recognize as Venezuela’s in- terim leader. Speaking to reporters in Madrid on Monday after returning from Caracas, Gonzalez Pons said that the EU’s foreign affairs com- missioner, Federica Mogh- erini, should cancel the International Group of Contact that seeks talks in Venezuela. He also called for the bloc’s members to oust Maduro’s ambassadors, and he vowed to return to Venezuela on Saturday. The five visitors were invited by the opposition-led congress led by Juan Guaido. Violence has been rising in Cancun and Quintana Roo as a whole amid reports of the Jalisco New Generation cartel moving into the area and fighting local gangs for control.3 LOCAL NEWS CAYMAN COMPASS • TUESDAY FEBRUARY 19, 2019 KAABOO 2020 tickets available soon MARK MUCKENFUSS mmuckenfuss@pinnaclemedialtd.com Cayman attorney Natasha Hernandez is one of many KAABOO Cayman attendees who was sorry she waited to buy her pass for the event and ended up paying more. She said she will not be doing that for the next in- stallment of the festival. “I’ll be sure to get a ticket as soon as they’re posted,” Ms. Hernandez said. She will not have to wait long. Jason Felts, chief brand and marketing officer for KAABOO said on Sunday that dates for the 2020 fes- tival will likely be an- nounced in the coming days – he anticipates it will be in February once more – and tickets may become avail- able even sooner, with pass holders from this year get- ting first dibs. “Those who attended will get an advanced opportu- nity,” Mr. Felts said. “They should look out for an email this week.” An early batch of “blind” tickets for general entry were offered for $150 when KAABOO Cayman was first announced last year but the acts performing were not yet known. Those passes quickly sold out. As the year pro- gressed, prices incrementally increased. Those who bought passes on the KAABOO web- site in the final weeks leading up to the concert paid $333. The artist lineup for the festival will not come until later in the year. Organizers initially com- mitted to mounting the fes- tival for three years. With the success of the inaugural event, many are anticipating it may extend beyond that. During Duran Duran’s performance, which capped the second day of the two- day festival, lead singer Simon Le Bon – who was later seen in photos enjoying Cayman’s Seven Mile Beach – tapped into that sentiment early in the set. “First year?” he said. “I hope it goes forever and ever and ever.” Duran Duran’s lead singer Simon Le Bon, left, told the festival audience on Saturday night that he wants KAABOO Cayman to go on ‘forever.’ Organizers confirmed there would be a KAABOO Cayman 2020. - PHOTO: STEPHEN CLARKE Singer Hirie, who performed at KAABOO Cayman, embodies the enthusiasm of some attendees who plan to jump at the chance for passes to next year’s event. - PHOTO: MARK MUCKENFUSS Warning over mishandling of wildlife Reduced fees for charities will start March 1 Environment officials have issued a warning over the handling of wildlife by divers, snorkelers and swimmers after a spike in complaints. The Department of Envi- ronment says it has received a number of reports within the past month of mishan- dling of wildlife, including a diver grabbing a sea turtle by its carapace, Stingray Sandbar visitors lifting rays out of the water, and Starfish Point visitors holding starfish out of the water for signifi- cant periods of time. All of these activities have the potential to harm the creatures, according to De- partment of Environment Deputy Director Tim Austin. The DoE issued a state- ment Monday, reminding people that interaction with marine life outside of des- ignated wildlife interaction zones was not permitted. Mr. Austin said sting- rays, starfish and sea tur- tles are resilient creatures but could still be severely injured by mishandling. “Wildlife Interaction Zones were developed under the National Conservation Law specifically to permit in- dividuals to safely interact with wildlife in our won- derful marine environment, not abuse it,” he said. Environment Minister Dwayne Seymour added, “Safety has always been one of the primary concerns for our marine environment. Safety for our residents and visitors, as well as for our precious marine animals. We must treat these animals with care and respect if we want them to stay around.” Under the National Con- servation Law, local water sports and dive-shop op- erators who take tours to the two Wildlife Interac- tion Zones at the Sandbar or Stingray City must obtain an annual permit and display decals with the relevant year on both sides of their vessel. Without this permit, tour op- erators can be denied access to these areas. KEN SILVA ksilva@pinnaclemedialtd.com A legislative amendment intended to make it easier for charitable entities to obtain special exemptions under the Companies Law will go into effect on March 1. The amendment is to Sec- tion 80 of the Companies Law, which allows charitable organizations to operate as limited liability companies without having to have the “limited” or “ltd.” designation in their names, and without having to pay certain fees under that law. The amend- ment reduces the applica- tion costs organizations have to pay to obtain the Section 80 exemptions, and it also streamlines the process for them to achieve this status. Section 80 applies to non- profit organizations that prefer a legal structure with limited liability. Those enti- ties would in practice first register as a company under section 80 of the Companies Law and then subsequently register under the Non-Profit Organisations Law to be able to raise funds from the public. The section also applies to privately funded organi- zations to be recognized as not for profit and still enjoy limited liability. Privately funded organizations do not need to register under the Non-Profit Organisations Law, if they are not solic- iting funds from the public. Under current rules, Cab- inet has the ability to ap- prove applications under Section 80, as well as any subsequent changes to the companies. However, this process has been criticized as slow and expensive. The amendment will have organizations apply for Sec- tion 80 status to the General Registry rather than Cabinet. It also reduces application fees from $1,000 to $300, and fees for making administrative changes – such as changing a director – from $500 to $25. “Government has listened to the public’s comments about Section 80 companies registering as charities in the Cayman Islands, and we have made steps to reduce the cost and turn-around time for processing such ap- plications,” Financial Services Minister Tara Rivers said of the impending amendment. The amendment will have organizations apply for Section 80 status to the General Registry rather than Cabinet. It also reduces application fees from $1,000 to $300, and fees for making administrative changes – such as changing a director – from $500 to $25. “ We must treat these animals with care and respect if we want them to stay around.” DWAYNE SEYMOUR, environment minister Lauren Dombowsky and Jerrica Wood of the Department of Environment demonstrate proper handling of rays at the Stingray Sandbar. - PHOTO: CLAIRE FLETCHER Fireworks explode over KAABOO Cayman’s Ironshore stage as The Chainsmokers perform on Friday night before a packed nighttime audience. - PHOTO: COURTESY OF KAABOOThe 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. 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” WASHINGTON – Rep. Alexan- dria Ocasio-Cortez’s now in- famous talking points on the Green New Deal are the most unintentionally honest expla- nation of the neo-socialism now gripping the Demo- cratic Party. Too honest, ap- parently. After her office sent the “FAQ” to NPR, The Wash- ington Post and other news organizations, and posted a similar version on her con- gressional website, they were met with withering criticism – prompting Ocasio-Cortez to furiously backtrack, seeking to disown and discredit doc- uments her office had pro- duced, posted and distrib- uted. Sorry, you don’t get to do that. Ocasio-Cortez told us what is really behind her Green New Deal. Now she, and the Democrats who en- dorsed her plan, have to live with it. Ocasio-Cortez has been pilloried for her plan to “get rid of farting cows and air- planes,” upgrade or replace “every building in America,” replace “every combustible- engine vehicle” and pro- vide “economic security” for people “unwilling to work” – and rightly so. The old five- year plans of the former So- viet Union are modest, by comparison, in their pursuit of full socialism. Yet the big untold story is her admission that all of this cannot be paid for simply by taxing the rich. Sen. Eliz- abeth Warren, D-Mass., is campaigning for president on a wealth tax, while Ocasio- Cortez has proposed 70 per- cent marginal tax rates on wealthy Americans. The mes- sage is clear: We will soak the millionaires and billion- aires and mega-rich corpo- rations so we can give you free stuff. But her talking points (even the watered-down ver- sion that was posted on her website) admit that will not come close to covering the full costs of her Green New Deal. “The level of invest- ment required is massive,” the talking points declare. “Even if every billionaire and company came together and were willing to pour all the resources at their dis- posal into this investment, the aggregate value of the in- vestments they could make would not be sufficient.” Her document says that funding the Green New Deal requires World War II levels of gov- ernment spending of between 40 and 50 percent of gross domestic product. Today, federal spending amounts to 21 percent of GDP, or $4.4 trillion annu- ally. Increasing it to between 40 and 50 percent of GDP would require doubling gov- ernment expenditures to be- tween $84 and $105 trillion over 10 years (and that is without factoring in rising GDP). But Warren’s wealth tax would raise just $2.75 trillion over 10 years. And ac- cording to the nonpartisan Tax Foundation, Ocasio-Cor- tez’s 70 percent marginal rate might raise at best $189 bil- lion over 10 years, and could actually cost the federal gov- ernment $63.5 billion in lost revenue by stifling economic growth and encouraging cap- ital flight. Taxing the rich will not come close to covering the costs of the Green New Deal, which includes a bunch of socialist policies that have nothing to do with climate change. Manhattan Institute budget expert Brian Riedl has calculated the 10-year costs using liberal and non- partisan sources. The results are stunning: $32 trillion for a single-payer healthcare plan; $6.8 trillion for a gov- ernment jobs guarantee; $2 trillion for education, med- ical leave, job training and retirement security; and be- tween $5 trillion and $40 trillion to fund universal basic income to support those who are “unwilling” to work. (The final price de- pends on how “universal” it is.) Grand total? Between $46 and $81 trillion. The only way to raise the revenue for even the low end of that estimate, he cal- culates, would require es- tablishing a European-style value-added tax of 87 per- cent on everything we buy, or a new 37 percent payroll tax for every American (on top of the current 15.3 percent pay- roll tax and all existing fed- eral, state and local taxes.) And that covers the price tag only before we even get to the energy and environ- mental policies in the Green New Deal. It is virtually im- possible to accurately cal- culate the cost of replacing every vehicle that uses a combustion engine; bringing high-speed rail to every corner of America; upgrading or replacing every building in America; and replacing all fossil fuel energy with al- ternative energy sources. We are talking hundreds of tril- lions of dollars. It would be virtually impossible to pay for it. And Americans do not want to anyway. A recent Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that 56 percent say they support Medicare- for-all, but when they learn it requires more taxes, 60 per- cent oppose it. With her FAQ, Ocasio- Cortez has inadvertently ex- posed the neo-socialist lie that you can get something for nothing. The Democratic Party’s embrace of that lie is going to get President Trump re-elected. Follow Marc A. Thiessen on Twitter, @marcthiessen. © 2019, The Washington Post Writers Group When Prince Charles touches down on Grand Cayman next month, he will find an island much changed since his last official visit 46 years ago. But we are certain that he and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, will find unchanged our residents’ loyalty to his mother Queen Elizabeth II and cherishing of our status as part of the British Commonwealth. It is somewhat felicitous that the two royals will arrive in the midst of the ongoing 60th anniversary celebration of the Cayman Coat of Arms, a symbolic representation of our political, cultural and historic ties with Britain. Our mutually beneficial relationship with the United Kingdom was deliberately sought by a prudent generation of Caymanian leaders (and con - tinues to be valued by the vast majority of our popu- lation) amid a tumultuous time wherein many of our Caribbean neighbors declared independence from European colonial powers that once oversaw their development and affairs. Setting aside serious but relatively marginal political disagreements (i.e., the U.K. Parliament’s imposition of beneficial ownership registries upon its territories), Cayman continues to pledge allegiance to Her Majesty the Queen. School days open to the tones of “God Save the Queen,” and her visage beams down upon us in government facilities and greets new arrivals at Owen Roberts International Airport – the opening ceremony of which Prince Charles and Camilla will participate in, during one of their first scheduled appearances on Grand Cayman. The royal couple’s two-day visit will include meetings with Governor Martyn Roper and Premier Alden McLaughlin, sojourns to Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, and a tour of the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Gardens, named for and opened by Prince Charles’s mother in 1994. At the Botanic Gardens, he will participate in the much-awaited opening of the children’s garden, while the Duchess of Cornwall visits George Town Primary School and the opening of the new Jasmine hospice center. Their presence elevates the ceremonial luster of these events – ensuring they will be remembered for a lifetime, just as those who were here for Her Majesty the Queen’s visits in 1983 and 1994 can recall the visits in minute detail. Visits from members of the British Royal Family are always cause for celebration. It will be the first visit from a member of the British Royal Family since 2016, when Prince Edward, the Earl of Wessex and patron of the Central Caribbean Marine Institute, made the most recent of several trips to Little Cayman and the CCMI Little Cayman Research Centre there. As we wrote during last fall’s visit by four Tory MPs, the more high-profile visitors from the U.K. we are given the opportunity of hosting, the better. In an age when “offshore” has been warped into a dispar- aging adjective, it is critical that decision-makers and influencers witness firsthand what our islands have to offer, and meet the real people influenced by political dictates from thousands of miles away. We wrote at the time: “We are not so naïve as to think the current contentiousness between Cayman and Great Britain can be resolved by a brief ‘goodwill tour’ – no matter how pleasant. Still, we allow our- selves to hope the four MPs will serve as willing and capable advocates for our community – forming a ‘bridge over troubled waters,’ so to speak.” Accordingly, next month’s visit from Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall presents an important opportunity – in addition to the usual pomp and pag- eantry – to solidify further the pragmatic aspects of the U.K.’s and Cayman’s relationship. A royal welcome to Cayman’s royal visitors TUESDAY FEBRUARY 19, 2019 • CAYMAN COMPASS The Green New Deal means giant tax increases MARC A. THIESSEN LETTER Petitions are effective Petitions work. Thirty years ago, several of us in Cotton Tree Bay gathered Brackers’ names to present to Ezzard Miller to pro- test building a new dump on the bluff above Cotton Tree Bay. Long story short: a new dump was not built up there, and has not been effec- tively built anywhere on the Brac since then! It has been 30 years, and we still are waiting for government to re- solve the question of garbage, trash, in the islands. A petition for or against a referendum about con- structing a permanent cruise ship pier in George Town harbor will take years to resolve. Hopefully, it will not take 30 years. The mills of justice in our islands grind as small and fine as sifted flour! Nan Socolow Taxing the rich will not come close to covering the costs of the Green New Deal, which includes a bunch of socialist policies that have nothing to do with climate change. 5 LOCAL NEWS CAYMAN COMPASS • TUESDAY FEBRUARY 19, 2019 Coco Fest raises funds for Meals on Wheels charity Security Centre introduces new surveillance device OVERSTAYING MUST BE DETERRED, COURT SAYS Towers used at Super Bowl The Security Centre was unsat- isfied with the state of mobile sur- veillance towers on the market, so it built a new one. That innovation, the Mobile Advanced Security Tower – MAST for short – was deployed at the Super Bowl in Atlanta, Georgia, earlier this month as part of the event’s surveillance operations. The Security Centre is based in Cayman but also has a U.S. head- quarters in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The Tennessee branch of the com- pany was awarded the contract to work at the Super Bowl, and 10 MAST towers were deployed to help in the overall security and moni- toring effort. “We kind of looked at the ex- isting landscape for mobile video surveillance,” said Stuart Bostock, president of The Security Centre. “Most of the existing systems were trailerized and weren’t aesthetically pleasing. They were very easily tam- pered with. They could be stolen.” Mr. Bostock said that the MAST alleviates a lot of the problems with mobile video surveillance tech- nology. They can be set up in 30-40 minutes, and they operate on solar power. The vertical height of the tower also makes them difficult to tamper with from the ground. The Security Centre first built its MAST towers out of cardboard and then made a plywood version. Finally, the company graduated to a metal prototype. The MAST was first deployed at the Riverbend Music Festival in Chattanooga, Ten- nessee, in June last year. That successful deployment led to a contract with the Metropol- itan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, and The Security Centre arranged a demonstration at the Peach Drop in Atlanta on New Year’s Eve. Mr. Bostock said that once the security towers are installed, they can operate in two different modes. One allows the data feed to be pushed to an external command center, and another allows the op- erators of the feed to control the cameras and break down the data themselves. In one case, said Mr. Bostock, the MAST cameras were able to focus 1.2 miles into the distance from the hub, and in another, they helped prevent a vehicle theft at the Super Bowl. The MAST can be deployed at construction sites or large develop- ment sites, said Mr. Bostock, and it can be used to provide security at night and also for time-lapse pho- tography at a site. “The applications are endless in terms of where we put them,” said Mr. Bostock of future applications for the MAST. “Anywhere that eyes are needed on the ground.” Fine equals cost of ticket home CAROL WINKER cwinker@pinnaclemedialtd.com A man who pleaded guilty to overstaying 35 days was fined $205, the cost of a one-way ticket to his home country. This sort of offense was diffi- cult to pass sentence on, Magis- trate Valdis Foldats said, because overstaying is “an attack” on Cay- man’s border control, but putting someone in prison is a burden on the country. He was commenting on the case of Shawn Sheldon Campbell, 29, who appeared in Summary Court on Monday. The defendant pleaded guilty to unlawfully remaining in Cayman from Jan. 11 to Feb. 15, 2019. Crown counsel Emma Hutchinson said Mr. Campbell was arrested on Feb. 15 after police vis- ited a George Town bar to investi- gate a report of illegal gambling. They found no evidence of such ac- tivity, but officers requested indi- viduals present their passports or some form of identification. Mr. Campbell admitted to of- ficers that he had overstayed, but said someone was going to apply for a work permit for him. His previous work permit, with a janitorial service, had expired on Nov. 25, 2018, and he was given time to leave. He said he had saved $600, which he was living on, and his landlord was allowing him to stay on the promise that he would pay when he started working. Defense attorney John Furniss added that there was a young woman who was assisting Mr. Campbell as best she could. Mr. Campbell has been in cus- tody since his arrest. The magistrate said that if the defendant had overstayed longer, there was the likely penalty of jail, “because we have to send a mes- sage.” In the case of a short-term overstayer, there must be mean- ingful punishment; otherwise, people would be tempted to just take a chance. Immigration laws are very important in this country, he emphasized. “I have to send a message to other people thinking of doing the same thing.” He noted that government would bear the cost of sending the man back to his country of or- igin and wondered how much that would be. Mr. Furniss volunteered that he had recently been involved in a matter that dealt with the cost of a one-way ticket to Ja- maica and he thought it was $205. The magistrate thought that Mr. Campbell should be able to scrape up that amount between his girlfriend and his savings. He therefore imposed a fine of $205 or, in the alternative, serve 20 days. “We can’t afford to let people off with no punishment,” he stated. This year’s Coco Fest attendees helped contribute to a good cause. Coco Fest, held at Pedro St. James on Feb. 9, helped raise more than $1,400 for the local branch of Meals on Wheels, according to or- ganizers. More than two dozen ven- dors attended the event, designed to promote the resurgence of the Cayman coconut industry. Attendees were able to buy foods, beauty products and household items, such as cleaning brushes made from coconut husk. Close to 2,300 people attended the festival, organizers said. “The support was extraordi- nary this year. I think that we have grown [in] leaps and bounds,” said Debbie Bodden, the operations manager of Pedro St. James, in a press release. “From Grace Coconut Water and Pepsi, who are always willing to as- sist the community, Red Cross rep- resentatives looking after our pa- trons and vendors, to additional guards on loan by The Security Centre and support by officers of the RCIPS, we are truly grateful.” Children who attended the fes- tival were treated to cultural dem- onstrations on how to make a smoke pot and coconut husk sail- boats by members of the Cayman Catboat Club. Artisan Carmen Conolly demonstrated her skill with coconut frond art and showed how to scrub a floor with a coconut husk. Grace Coconut Water and Cayman Spirits Company cre- ated a new cocktail called the Co- cohito, which was sold for $5, with $2 of each sale going directly to Meals on Wheels. “We were happy to partner with Pedro St. James and Grace products this year to help for a charitable cause,” said Sarita Singh, the events coordinator for Cayman Spirits Company. “The proceeds from our specialty drink was a smashing suc- cess and we raised $500 to donate to Meals on Wheels.” Erin Bodden, general manager of Meals on Wheels, was excited to be a part of Coco Fest. “Coco Fest is a fantastic family event that embodies our Cayma- nian culture and heritage,” she said. “We were grateful for the opportu- nity to be a part of the event this year, where we could engage with attendees and educate them about our complimentary meal delivery service to 230-plus seniors across Grand Cayman. Thanks to the gen- erous donation from the entry fees and the signature cocktail, we are another step closer to our 2019 funding requirements.” Coco Fest, held at Pedro St. James on Feb. 9, helped raise more than $1,400 for the local branch of Meals on Wheels, according to organizers. The MAST was first deployed at the Riverbend Music Festival in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in June last year. A vendor offers a fresh coconut to a customer at this year’s Coco Fest at Pedro St. James. - PHOTO: TANEOS RAMSAY The Security Centre’s Mobile Advanced Security Tower is more aesthetically pleasing and less easily stolen than a traditional surveillance tower.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. TUESDAY FEBRUARY 19, 2019 • CAYMAN COMPASS TUESDAY, FEB. 19 SEAFARERS: The Cayman Islands Seafarers Association will hold a general meeting at 7:30 p.m. in the Seafarers Hall, 11 Victory Avenue, Prospect. Buses will be provided from West Bay Town Hall at 6 p.m. A bus route has been added in George Town, leaving the public library parking area at 7 p.m., stopping at Cayman Compass building and the Airport Foster’s. The bus is blue and marked Bobo $1 Public transport, but there is no charge. THURSDAY, FEB. 21 SISTER ISLANDS SPORTS DAYS: Cayman Brac and Little Cayman primary schools meet for sports days at Cayman Brac Sports Complex 4 p.m. today and 9 a.m. tomorrow. BRAC SUMMARY COURT: 10 a.m. at the Aston Rutty Civic Centre. HUMANE SOCIETY QUIZ: Pub trivia at Fidel Murphy’s to raise funds for the Humane Society. 7 p.m. Anna Haydon will be hosting. $10 entrance fee per person, maximum 6 people on a team. FRIDAY, FEB. 22 FLAG DAY: Today and tomorrow, Feb. 23, supporters of Jasmine, previously known as Cayman HospiceCare, will be collecting funds for the charity. Jasmine is seeking individuals to volunteer for two hours on either day, at a location of their choice. Monies raised go directly to facilitating the care and support provided by Jasmine. Contact kerrie@jasmine.ky to volunteer. SATURDAY, FEB. 23 5/10K RUN OR WALK: SafeHaven Drive, by the Holiday Inn. 6 a.m. Registrations. 6:30 a.m. Walk starts. 6:45 a.m. Run starts. Fee is Adults $10, Children (under 10) $5. Includes refreshments, entry into raffle draw with lots of prizes. All proceeds benefit Girlguiding Cayman Islands. Pre- register at Cayman Active at www.caymanactive.com/ guiding. Please, no dogs at the event. FELLOWSHIP BREAKFAST: The Grand Cayman chapter of the Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship International will hold its monthly breakfast this morning at 7:30 a.m., at Aroma (formerly Lola’s) restaurant in Camana Bay. The speaker will be Camille Marshall-Morris of the Health Services Authority. THURSDAY, FEB. 28 BABY SHOW: This is the deadline for registration to take part in the annual Baby Show at the Agriculture Show, Ash Wednesday. March 6. Enter the little ones, boys and girls; ages 0–48 months. For more information, call 929-9932. ROTARY OLYMPICS: The Rotary Club of Grand Cayman will host backyard games, including Giant Jenga, Connect 4, Twister and Cornhole, among others, today to raise funds to help send the Cayman Islands Special Olympics team to compete in the World Summer Games in the United Arab Emirates next month. 5:30 p.m. at Sea Alissa, the Thompsons’ home at 702 South Church Street. Register online at www.caymanactive. com. $120 for teams of four; $35 for individuals. CONCERT AT LIBRARY: Cayman Arts Festival and the Cayman Islands Public Library Service presents a one-hour concert at the George Town Public Library (historical building). The concert, 6-7 p.m., includes classical music, in addition to poetry and readings from local poets and writers. Tickets available at the door, $20 for adults, $5 for children. The event is part of a monthly series. There will be only 75 tickets per event. PUBLIC INPUT: Today is the last day for the public to share feedback about the National Planning Framework, which sets out long-term goals for land use and physical development as part of the Development Plan for Grand Cayman. More information at www.plancayman.ky. Printed copies of the document can be viewed at the PlanCayman Information Counter, located in the lobby of the Government Administration Building. SATURDAY, MARCH 2 LIGHT UP THE NIGHT: The ninth annual Breast Cancer Foundation beach walk takes place tonight at 7 p.m. Walk along the beach from Royal Palms to The Ritz-Carlton and back. Bring the whole family. Dogs are welcome. Entry is $25, which includes entry into a raffle draw. Register before the walk at www. breastcancerfoundation.ky or on the night at 6 p.m. at Royal Palms. For more information, call 923-1135. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6 AGRICULTURE SHOW: The 52nd annual Cayman Islands Agriculture Show will be held today at The Grounds, Lower Valley. Gates open at 7 a.m. ASH WEDNESDAY SERVICE: St. Ignatius Catholic Church (Walkers Road), 8 a.m. noon, 6 p.m. Christ the Redeemer (West Bay) 10 a.m. Stella Maris (Cayman Brac) 11 a.m. FRIDAY, MARCH 8 WALK IN HER SHOES: 5 p.m. Camana Bay. Men don high heels to raise funds for Cayman Islands Crisis Centre. Participants can register at www.cicc.ky/ awalkinhershoes2019 GENERAL INTEREST SUMMER INTERNSHIP: With the development of Cayman Enterprise City in the Special Economic Zone, training opportunities exist for young people through the summer in the City Internship Program. Registration is currently open, and the application deadline is March 17. For more information on this program, visit www.caymanenterprisecity.com/ enterprise-cayman/intern-in- the-city/ or contact Bianca Mora, Public Engagement Officer at CEC, at b.mora@ caymanenterprisecity.com. LOCAL HARVEST MARKET: Local farmers sell their produce and farmed goods at Camana Bay on Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Heliconia Court (located next to Scotiabank). SPECIAL OLYMPICS: Be a volunteer for athlete training at Truman Bodden Sports Complex. Tuesdays, 5:30 p.m. for track, bocce and football, and Thursdays, 5:30 p.m. for basketball. 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. 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. SEAFARERS HALL: The Cayman Islands Seafarers Association wishes to inform the community that the hall is now available for rent every day of the week, including Saturdays. THRIFT SHOP: One Dog at a Time’s New To U shop is now located at JJT Warehouses, Row 2, Unit 2 on Industrial Way. Open every Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Variety of items available, including men’s, women’s, children’s and baby clothes, shoes, household, electrical items, CDs, DVDs, books, home furnishings, toys, games, furniture, baby cribs, car seats, dog beds and more. 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 Street. 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-Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Saturday 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Volunteers needed for front desk a few hours per week. For more information, email humanesocietybookloft@ candw.ky or call 946-8053. Donations of books, games, CDs, stationery, DVDs, cards etc. in good condition needed. 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. Contact George R. Ebanks at 322-9369 or Grand Cayman Toastmasters club on Facebook. Email info@ toastmastersclub2686.org. 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. ROTARY CLUB OF GRAND CAYMAN SUNRISE: Service club meetings 7 a.m. every Wednesday at George Town Yacht Club, 612 North Sound Road. Visit www.rotarysunrise.ky or info@rotarysunrise.ky. KIWANIS CLUB OF GRAND CAYMAN: Meets first and third Wednesdays of the month, 12:30 p.m., at The Wharf Restaurant. Projects include promoting well- being of children in the community and schools. Email president@kiwanis.ky or view www.kiwanis.ky. For more Community Calendar events, visit www.caymancompass.com/events. To help raise funds for the Cayman Islands Special Olympics team, the Rotary Club of Grand Cayman will host fun, family-friendly ‘Rotary Olympics’ at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 28, at Sea Alissa, the Thompsons’ home at 702 South Church Street. Prizes will be awarded for various entries and games include Giant Jenga, Connect 4 and Cornhole.The islands’ most-trusted news source 7 will be to develop the hard- ware to allow it to operate autonomously. Mr. Elphinstone, who is studying at Queens Univer- sity in Canada, plans to re- turn to NeuralStudio this summer, where he hopes to advance the project further. He said the brain of the device had been developed and there were numerous possibilities for its appli- cation. He said they would have to decide whether to try to develop a “search and de- stroy” drone that could inde- pendently hunt lionfish or a more passive tool that could aid cullers. “Those are going to be the big questions over the next couple of months. Hopefully, we can develop it enough to take to market.” Mr. Copper said he was looking forward to working on it further. “We have a proof of con- cept,” he said. “We need to do some more training for the neural network and put some thought into the real world application, which could mean some type of trap.” Cayman Enterprise City’s “Summer in the City” internship program is open to Caymanians and resi- dents of the Cayman Is- lands between the ages of 18-25 and lasts for one to two months during the summer. Every year, CEC places young people in in- ternships throughout Cay- man’s three special eco- nomic zones: Cayman Tech City, Cayman Mari- time and Aviation City, and Cayman Commodities and Derivatives City. CAYMAN COMPASS • TUESDAY FEBRUARY 19, 2019 OfReg proposes ‘truth in advertising’ rules for licensees “If a Marketing Com- munications is not truthful, or is deceptive or unfair, the Consumer may make a complaint to the Office as outlined in the Con- sumer Complaints Appeals Procedure Guidelines,” OfReg stated. Then, if OfReg finds that a company has broken any of the proposed rules, the regulator’s remedies would include adminis- trative fines, public repri- mands, and criminal com- plaints of fraud. OfReg stated in an ex- plainer about the rules that the United Kingdom “was used as a source of inspiration to ensure that the proposed rules are up-to-date and give con- sumers the protection that they deserve. “In order to construct the new rules, OfReg drew from a range of existing ones found in western countries.” The proposal is a part of a consultation process OfReg is undertaking in drafting the truth in ad- vertising rules. Regulated companies and members of the public have until March 13 to comment on the proposals, then OfReg will take those re- sponses into account when drafting its final policy on the matter. The proposed rules can be found at www.OfReg.ky. Young Cayman inventor joins fight against invasive lionfish Strong tourism growth forecast across Caribbean The anticipated re- covery of those islands in 2019 could mean a decline in market share for the Cayman Islands. But the CTO remains confident that the overall expected increase in ar- rivals will mean islands across the region benefit. Mr. Skeete added, “With a strong perfor- mance during the last four months of 2018, including a robust showing by coun- tries impacted by the 2017 hurricanes, the evidence suggests that Caribbean tourism is on the upswing.” He said the CTO was cautiously optimistic about its projections but warned of “significant headwinds,” including the outcome of the Brexit negotiations in the U.K., the ongoing trade war between the United States and China and po- tential extreme weather events in the destinations and marketplaces. Overall, there were 29.9 million tourist visits to the Caribbean in 2018, a decline on 2017, but still the second best year on re- cord for the region. Cruise visits to Carib- bean destinations at the end of 2018 increased by an estimated 6.7 percent over 2017. This meant that the region received an es- timated 28.9 million cruise visitors, some 1.8 million more than the 27.1 mil- lion in 2017. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Tense standoff spells endgame for ISIS militants in Syria BAGHOUZ, Syria (AP) – The collection of tents was largely silent on a sunny winter Monday afternoon. Few people were visible, but the few out and about were calm: Two men in long robes and pants walked slowly to- gether through the grass, a woman leisurely came out of her tent to look around, a man on a motorcycle drove toward the river. This is the last speck of land held by the Islamic State group – a patch along the Eu- phrates River in eastern Syria where an estimated 300 mili- tants are mixed in with hun- dreds of civilians, refusing to surrender and trying to negotiate an exit with the U.S.-backed forces sur- rounding them. An Associated Press team got a rare glimpse of the ISIS- held settlement, standing on a rooftop about a kilo- meter (half mile) away during a media tour to the front lines organized by the Syrian Democratic Forces. The roof looked out over a flat, green landscape with scattered palm trees, to an earthen berm and a line of pickup trucks put up by the mili- tants at the edge of the camp. At one point, gunfire crackled in the distance. An SDF commander on the roof with a number of fighters said it is not always so quiet. Only days earlier the militants sur- prised the soldiers with an at- tempted night raid. The SDF cannot assault the site or call in airstrikes because of the ci- vilians, he said, adding that his fighters have seen the mili- tants moving civilians around at gunpoint as protection. “They try a psychological war. But that is it! The war is over, and we won,” said the commander, who spoke on condition he be identified only by his nom de guerre, Baran, in line with SDF rules. The tense standoff by the village of Baghouz is the end- game for the militant group that since 2014 controlled a vast stretch of territory across Syria and Iraq – at one point nearly from Aleppo to Baghdad – and ruled for years, aspiring to create an enduring and expanding ji- hadi state. The 300 militants in the pocket may include high-level figures and are be- lieved to hold hostages. Activists said a truce in place has been extended for five days as of Sunday. A person familiar with ongoing deliberations said the group has asked for an exit through a corridor to the rebel-held northwestern province of Idlib and demand to be al- lowed to leave along with the civilians. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not autho- rized to speak about the talks, which he described as taking place indirectly. Baran said the militants had sent messages with ci- vilians they allowed to out up until last week, asking for a corridor out to Idlib and Turkey. Since Wednesday, no civilians came out of the pocket. The SDF denies any negotiations are taking place The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an activist group that monitors the civil war in Syria, said another re- quest by ISIS to be evacu- ated to neighboring Iraq was also rejected. ISIS released 10 SDF fighters it had been holding on Sunday, but it was not clear what, if any- thing, the extremists would get in return, the Observatory said. Soldiers reported some of their colleagues have also been released since. The SDF appears to be aiming to wait the militants out. “They don’t have supplies in the area they are in that would last for a week or more,” said Baran, the commander. The SDF and the U.S.-led coalition have been fighting ISIS in the surrounding region since September. In recent years, they and other forces have steadily driven ISIS from nearly all the territory it once controlled, in battles that have killed tens of thousands of people and left entire towns and neighborhoods in ruins. Villages leading to Bag- houz lie mostly empty and destroyed, ghost towns where the only sign of life is wild grass that grew after weeks of rare heavy rain. At least 62 people have died in recent weeks, mainly from exhaustion and malnu- trition, after making their way out of militant-held territory, the International Rescue Com- mittee said. Spokesman Paul Donohoe said two-thirds were children under the age of one. He said they either died along the way or soon after arriving at a camp for the displaced. Over 30,000 people who left the last ISIS-held areas have arrived at the al-Hol camp in Syria’s northern Has- sakeh province in the last few weeks, raising the overall population of the camp to al- most 42,000. A U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces fighter sits inside a building used as a temporary base near the last land still held by Islamic State militants in Baghouz, Syria, Monday. – PHOTO: AP Police arrest three for illegal landing Police seized a boat and arrested three men in the Breakers area Monday morning on suspicion of landing illegally in the Cayman Islands. According to the Royal Cayman Islands Police Ser- vice, officers attended the scene around 6:45 a.m. and saw a vessel in the water. The three men were found “acting suspiciously” in the area and subse- quently arrested. Police recovered a black boat from the waters off Breakers and removed it. Lionfish are an invasive species whose population has exploded in local and regional waters over the past decade. Marine police tow the seized boat to the marine base following Monday morning’s operation in Breakers.The islands’ most-trusted news source 8 TUESDAY FEBRUARY 19, 2019 • CAYMAN COMPASS French judge refuses to block Catholic sex scandal movie French director Francois Ozon’s film ‘Grace a Dieu’ (‘By the Grace of God’) portrays French priest Bernard Preynat, who has been accused of molesting dozens of boys during the 1980s and ‘90s. Preynat’s lawyers say the picture should be blocked because it does not respect the presumption of innocence. Sex abuse survivors to meet with Vatican summit organizers VATICAN CITY (AP) – The organizers of Pope Francis’ summit on pre- venting clergy sex abuse will meet this week with a dozen abuse vic- tims who have descended on Rome to protest the Catholic Church’s re- sponse to the crisis and demand an end to decades of cover-up by church leaders, officials said Monday. These abuse survivors will not be addressing the summit of church leaders itself. Rather, they will meet Wednesday with the four-member organizing committee to convey their complaints. The larger summit of some 190 presidents of bishops’ conferences from around the world, plus key Vatican officials, begins Thursday. At a press conference Monday, organizers called the summit a “turning point” in the church’s ap- proach to clergy sex abuse. The Catholic Church has long been criticized for its failure to hold bishops accountable when they covered up for priests who raped and molested children. They said the summit would focus on three key aspects of dealing with the crisis: making bishops aware of their own respon- sibilities to protect their flocks, the consequences of shirking those re- sponsibilities, and the need for transparency. Archbishop Charles Scicluna, the Vatican’s leading sex crimes investigator and an organizer of the meeting, said transparency was key, since the church’s knee- jerk response of denial and silence in the past had only exacerbated the problem. “Whether it’s criminal or mali- cious complicity and a code of si- lence, or whether it’s denial or trauma in its very primitive state, we need to get away from that,” he told reporters. “We have to face the facts.” Chilean abuse victim Juan Carlos Cruz, who is coordinating the sur- vivor meeting, told The Associated Press he hopes for a “constructive and open dialogue” and for summit members to convey survivors’ de- mand that bishops stop pleading ig- norance about abuse. “Raping a child or a vulnerable person and abusing them has been wrong since the 1st century, the Middle Ages, and now,” he said. Francis called the summit in Sep- tember after he himself discredited Cruz and other Chilean victims of a notorious predator priest. Francis was subsequently implicated in the cover-up of Theodore McCarrick, the onetime powerful American car- dinal who just last week was de- frocked for sexually abusing minors as well as adults. Francis has urged participants to meet with abuse victims before they came to Rome, to both fa- miliarize themselves with victims’ pain and trauma and debunk the widely held idea that clergy sex abuse only happens in some parts of the world. Survivors will be represented at the summit itself, but only in a few key moments of prayer. Summit moderator the Rev. Federico Lombardi said he would gladly receive any written mes- sages from other survivors, ex- pressing an openness to hear from a broad cross section of victims. Cruz said the key message for the bishops to take away from the summit is that they must enforce true “zero tolerance” or face the consequences. “There are enforceable laws in the church to punish not only those who commit the abuse but those who cover it up,” he told the AP. “No matter what rank they have in the church, they should pay.” Chicago Cardinal Blase Cu- pich, another conference orga- nizer, agreed. “There is going to be every ef- fort to close whatever loopholes there are, to make sure that people understand on an individual basis as bishops what their responsibili- ties are,” he said. “Because they are going to be held accountable.” Organizers said the summit would focus on three key aspects of dealing with the crisis: making bishops aware of their own responsibilities to protect their flocks, the consequences of shirking those responsibilities, and the need for transparency. Pope Francis delivers his blessing during the Angelus noon prayer In St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Sunday. – PHOTO: AP Ex-FBI official: ‘Crime may have been committed’ by Trump WASHINGTON (AP) – Former FBI Deputy Director An- drew McCabe said in an in- terview that aired Sunday that a “crime may have been committed” when President Donald Trump fired the head of the FBI and tried to pub- licly undermine an investi- gation into his campaign’s ties to Russia. McCabe also said in the interview with “60 Minutes” that the FBI had good reason to open a counterintelligence investigation into whether Trump was in league with Russia, and therefore a pos- sible national security threat, following the May 2017 firing of then-FBI Director James Comey. “And the idea is, if the president committed ob- struction of justice, fired the director of the of the FBI to negatively impact or to shut down our investigation of Russia’s malign activity and possibly in support of his campaign, as a counterintel- ligence investigator you have to ask yourself, ‘Why would a president of the United States do that?’” McCabe said. He added: “So all those same sorts of facts cause us to wonder is there an in- appropriate relationship, a connection between this president and our most fear- some enemy, the government of Russia?” Asked whether Deputy At- torney General Rod Rosen- stein was onboard with the obstruction and counterin- telligence investigations, Mc- Cabe replied, “Absolutely.” A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment Sunday night. McCabe also revealed that when Trump told Rosenstein to put in writing his con- cerns with Comey – a docu- ment the White House ini- tially held up as justification for his firing – the president explicitly asked the Justice Department official to ref- erence Russia in the memo. Rosenstein did not want to, McCabe said, and the memo that was made public upon Comey’s dismissal did not mention Russia and focused instead on Comey’s handling of the Hillary Clinton email server investigation. “He explained to the pres- ident that he did not need Russia in his memo,” McCabe said. “And the president re- sponded, “I understand that, I am asking you to put Russia in the memo anyway.” Trump said in a TV in- terview days after Comey’s firing that he was thinking of “this Russia thing” when he fired Comey. Those actions, including a separate request by Trump that the FBI end an investi- gation into his first national adviser, Michael Flynn, made the FBI concerned that the president was illegally trying to obstruct the Russia probe. “Put together, these cir- cumstances were articu- lable facts that indicated that a crime may have been committed,” McCabe said. “The president may have been engaged in obstruc- tion of justice in the firing of Jim Comey.” McCabe was fired from the Justice Department last year after being ac- cused of misleading inves- tigators during an internal probe into a news media disclosure. The allegation was referred to the U.S. At- torney’s office in Wash- ington for possible prose- cution, but no charges have been brought. McCabe has denied having intentionally lied and said Sunday that he believes his firing was polit- ically motivated. “I believe I was fired be- cause I opened a case against the president of the United States,” he said. In the interview Sunday, McCabe also said Rosen- stein in the days after Com- ey’s firing had proposed wearing a wire to secretly re- cord the president. McCabe said he took the remark se- riously, though the Justice Department last September – responding last September to a New York Times report that first revealed the con- versation – issued a state- ment from an unnamed of- ficial who was in the room and interpreted the remark as sarcastic. McCabe said the remark was made during a conver- sation about why Trump had fired Comey. “And in the context of that conversation, the deputy at- torney general offered to wear a wire into the White House. He said, “’I never get searched when I go into the White House. I could easily wear a recording device. They wouldn’t know it was there,’” McCabe said. In excerpts released last week by CBS News, Mc- Cabe also described a con- versation in which Rosen- stein had broached the idea of invoking the Constitu- tion’s 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office. The Justice Department said in a statement that Rosen- stein, based on his dealings with Trump, does not see cause to seek the removal of the president. “ So all those same sorts of facts cause us to wonder is there an inappropriate relationship, a connection between this president and our most fearsome enemy, the government of Russia?” ANDREW MCCABE, Former FBI deputy director Former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe – PHOTO: AP9 WORLD®IONAL CAYMAN COMPASS • TUESDAY FEBRUARY 19, 2019 Aurora shooter’s permit was revoked but gun was not seized AURORA, Ill. (AP) – An ini- tial background check failed to detect a felony convic- tion that should have barred the man who killed five co- workers and wounded six other people at a suburban Chicago manufacturing plant from buying the gun. Months later, a second background check of Gary Martin found his 1995 ag- gravated assault conviction in Mississippi involving the stabbing of an ex-girlfriend. But it prompted only a letter stating his gun permit had been revoked and ordering him to turn over his firearm to police – raising questions about the state’s enforcement to ensure those who lose their permits also turn over their weapons. A vigil for the victims, in- cluding a university student on his first day as an intern and a longtime plant man- ager, was held Sunday out- side Henry Pratt Co. in Au- rora, about 40 miles west of Chicago. More than 1,500 people braved snow and freezing drizzle to attend. Martin, 45, was killed in a shoot-out with officers Friday, ending his deadly rampage at the plant. His state gun license permit was revoked in 2014, Aurora Po- lice Chief Kristen Ziman said. But he never gave up the .40-caliber Smith & Wesson handgun he used in the at- tack. Investigators are still trying to determine what ex- actly law enforcement agen- cies did after that letter was sent, Ziman said. Illinois lawmakers who support more gun control measures said Martin was able to keep the gun be- cause of a flaw in the 1968 law that requires residents to get a Firearm Owner’s Iden- tification card, or FOID card, to purchase firearms or am- munition. They must pass a background check, but the law does not mandate that police ensure weapons have been removed if a red flag is raised later. Legislation was introduced in 2016 to require police go to the homes of gun owners who have their FOID cards revoked and search for the weapons, but it failed over concerns it would overtax police depart- ments, said Democratic Rep. Kathleen Willis. She wants to see a similar measure introduced again. “Let’s use some common sense. If you have someone with a felony, obviously they are not the best law-abiding citizens who are going to follow through when they get the letter and go, ‘oh yeah, here’s my gun, no problem,’” Willis said. “We have to have oversight. That’s the biggest flaw in the whole system. We’re asking people who al- ready have done something wrong, to do something right.” Last year, Illinois joined other states like California in passing a law that allows family members to petition to have a gun removed from a home and a person’s permit revoked if they believe they might use it to harm them- selves or others. Lawmakers are also working to add teeth to re- strictions on the transfers of gun ownership from a person whose permit has been re- voked, Willis said. The change follows a 2018 shooting at a Tennessee Waffle House in- volving a man who had to give his guns to his father after his Illinois FOID card was revoked, but his father later gave them back to him. Legislators want people who obtain such weapons to sign an affidavit vowing to not return the weapons to the original owner. Martin was no stranger to police in Aurora, where he had been arrested six times over the years for what Ziman described as “traffic and domestic battery-related issues” and for violating an order of protection. After an initial back- ground check failed to de- tect his felony conviction, Martin was issued his FOID card and bought the Smith & Wesson handgun on March 11, 2014. Five days after that, he applied for a concealed carry permit. That back- ground check, which used digital fingerprinting, did flag his Mississippi felony convic- tion and led the Illinois State Police to revoke his permit. Records stemming from his 1995 conviction in Mis- sissippi described an ex- tremely violent man who abused a former girlfriend, at one point hitting her with a baseball bat and stabbing her with a knife, The Washington Post reported Saturday. After serving less than three years, he moved to Il- linois and landed a job at Henry Pratt. The conviction was not detected in a com- pany background check. Authorities said Saturday that Martin pulled out the gun and began shooting right after hearing he was being fired from his job of 15 years at the industrial valve man- ufacturer for various work- place violations. The com- pany has not given further details on what they were. Martin killed three people in the room with him and two others just outside, Ziman said. Among the dead was a college student starting a human resources internship at the plant that day. Martin also wounded a sixth worker, who is expected to survive. After wounding five offi- cers, Martin hid in the back of the building, where offi- cers found him about an hour later and killed him during an exchange of gunfire, police said. All of the wounded offi- cers are expected to live. Police identified the slain workers as human resources manager Clayton Parks of Elgin; plant manager Josh Pinkard of Oswego; mold op- erator Russell Beyer of Yor- kville; stock room attendant and fork lift operator Vicente Juarez of Oswego; and Trevor Wehner, the new intern and a Northern Illinois University student who lived in DeKalb and grew up in Sheridan. Wehner, 21, was on the dean’s list at NIU’s business college and was on track to graduate in May with a de- gree in human resource management. The Rev. Dan Haas told those who gathered outside Henry Pratt for Sunday’s vigil that the killings left the vic- tims’ families brokenhearted and in mourning. “All of these were rela- tively young people – many of them were very young people. We will never know their gifts and talents. Their lives were snuffed out way too short,” he said. Philippines says 136 people have died in measles outbreak MANILA, Philippines (AP) – The Philippine health secretary said Monday that 136 people, mostly children, have died of measles and 8,400 others have fallen ill in an out- break blamed partly on vac- cination fears. A massive immunization drive that started last week in hard-hit Manila and four provincial regions may con- tain the outbreak by April, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said. President Ro- drigo Duterte warned in a TV message Friday of fatal com- plications and urged children to be immunized. “No ifs, no buts, no con- ditions, you just have to bring your children and trust that the vaccines … will save your children,” Duque said by telephone. “That’s the absolute answer to this outbreak.” Infections spiked by more than 1,000 percent in metro- politan Manila, the densely packed capital of more than 12 million people, in January compared to last year, health officials said. About half of the 136 who died were children aged 1 to 4 and many of those who perished were not inoculated, the officials said. Duque said a govern- ment information drive was helping restore public trust in the government’s immuni- zation program, which was marred in 2017 by contro- versy over an anti-dengue vaccine made by French drugmaker SanofiPasteur which some officials linked to the deaths of at least three children. The Philippine govern- ment halted the anti-dengue immunization drive after Sanofisaid a study showed the vaccine may increase the risks of severe dengue in- fections. More than 830,000 children were injected with the Dengvaxia vaccine under the campaign, which was launched in 2016 under then- President Benigno Aquino III. The campaign continued under Duterte until it was stopped in 2017. Sanofiofficials told Phil- ippine congressional hear- ings that the Dengvaxia vac- cine was safe and effective and would reduce dengue infections if the vaccination drive continued. “It seems the faith has come back,” Duque said of public trust on the govern- ment’s immunization drive, citing the inoculation of about 130,000 of 450,000 people targeted for anti-mea- sles vaccinations in metro- politan Manila in just a week. Measles is a highly con- tagious respiratory disease caused by a virus which can be spread through sneezing, coughing and close per- sonal contact. Complications include di- arrhea, ear infections, pneu- monia and encephalitis, or the swelling of the brain, which may lead to death, according to the Depart- ment of Health. About half of the 136 who died were children aged 1 to 4 and many of those who perished were not inoculated, the officials said. A mourner places a flower at the crosses outside of the Henry Pratt company in Aurora on Sunday, in memory of the 5 employees killed Friday. – PHOTO: AP Philippine National Red Cross and Health Department volunteers conduct house-to-house measles vaccinations to children at an informal settlers community in Manila, following an outbreak of measles that already spread to four regions of the country and has claimed the lives of more than five dozen victims as of Saturday. - PHOTO: APNext >