This morning, traffic in downtown Belize City came to a halt, for the pageantry and ceremony which marks the opening of the Supreme Court for the calendar year. School children, tourists and regular passersby stood watch as the traditional pomp and circumstance of the formal event played out in front of the historic Supreme Court. […]
In his presentation at the opening of the Supreme Court Attorney General Wilfred “Sedi” Elrington raised several issues with the Bar Association—specifically, the need for continuous education and a return to its traditional role. According to Elrington, it cannot be Bar versus Bench. Wilfred Elrington, Attorney General “My lord with respect to the private […]
Despite a moratorium on the extraction of rosewood, the illegal exportation has continued, seemingly without pause. Last week, a shipment that was on its way overseas, likely to China, was stopped in its tracks. The confiscated rosewood was then set on fire by the Minister of Forestry Lisel Alamilla in the presence of the media. […]
Since the rosewood topic is such a burning issue, no pun intended, today News Five took to the streets to get some feedback. The question our reporter posed was simple; “Do you think Minister Lisel Alamilla should have burned up all that rosewood on Friday?” Here are some of the answers we got. Resident […]
This morning’s weekly police press conference deviated from the norm, as the media was met by old faces in new commands. Assistant Commissioner of Police Elodio Aragon Jr., formerly head of Eastern Division, has been promoted to Deputy Commissioner of Police with responsibility for Operations. Assistant Commissioner of Police Miguel Segura takes over the reins […]
On Wednesday night, a local alcalde busted a delivery truck in Deep River, Toledo which was being readied to transport over seven hundred pieces of rosewood destined for the lucrative export market. A moratorium on the extraction of the precious wood was put in place last year, but you wouldn’t know that because the illegal […]
Going into the weekend, police and B.D.F. continue to patrol the area of Queen Square and Mesopotamia following Monday’s quadruple murder of George Street affiliates. As the families prepare to bury Leonard Meyers, Albert Fuentes, Anthony Perez and Keino Quallo, police are yet to uncover any clear lead or motive but on the streets the […]
Motorists, property and business owners are being affected by the latest plan devised by City Hall to collect outstanding revenue owed in taxes. The Mayor says that persons who owe the city will have to pay up if they want to continue using services offered by the city. City Hall’s newest way to collect income […]
The Belize Tourism Board held its industry presentation this morning at La Isla Bonita. The Board was out in full force and the report on the state of the industry was glowing with arrivals on an upward trend. A master plan for the next two years was unveiled and so was a new logo: Belize: […]
While overnight visitor arrivals are up, cruise tourism suffered a ten percent decrease in 2012. A recent announcement by Carnival Cruise Line to cancel ten calls in 2013 will impact cruise arrivals, but the B.T.B. is optimistic, saying it expects that this year will hold its own. Director of Tourism, Laura Esquivel-Frampton says they are […]
A family from Billy White Village in the Cayo District is up in arms tonight following an incident at the Western Regional Hospital. Gomercido Pop and his common-law-wife, Josephat Choc, are the happy parents of baby boy Gregorio Casteliano Pop. Choc was admitted to the hospital last Thursday with labor pains and the baby boy […]
There is a serious allegation against a prominent attorney tonight. A couple from Michigan in the US is accusing attorney Arthur Saldivar of accepting payment, but not delivering services. The couple, John and Cynthia Engelhardt, claim that they paid Saldivar thirteen thousand dollars to process their title for a condo in San Pedro. That was […]
The area surrounding Dean Street and Plues Street remains under heavy police guard tonight. This evening, the crime scene where four George Street gang members were massacred was re-visited by personnel wearing K.H.M.H. scrubs and the police looking for more evidence into Monday night’s mass murder of Keino Quallo, Albert “Long John” Fuentes, Leonard “Ghost” […]
Earlier we told you that police were back at the scene of the murder of four George Street murders. Autopsies were conducted today on the bodies of the four massacred sometime on Monday night at their apartments at the corner of Dean and Plues Streets. The George Street affiliates had a horrific death; they were […]
Following the murder of the George Street associates, the U.S. Embassy issued a travel advisory for Belize regarding gang-related homicides. And though there was no indication of threats to U.S. citizens the release said quote “There is a possibility that retaliatory violence could take place. As a precaution, the Embassy’s Regional Security Officer has advised […]
The man accused of the brutal murder of his mother, sister and stepfather in Ladyville was in court today. Twenty-six year old Jared Avery Ranguy has been behind bars since November twenty-second, when he was arraigned. He appeared before Chief Magistrate Ann Marie Smith this morning. But since his case is recent, there was no […]
Belize City has been quiet following the mass murders on Monday, but up north there was a near fatal shooting in Orange Walk Town on Wednesday night. The well-known businessman Amir Mendez Senior and Evander Bennett were engaged in an altercation with one Noel Zetina, who is evading police. It turned ugly for Mendez and […]
A moratorium on the extraction of rosewood is still in place in the south and an assessment has reportedly not yet been completed, but the harvesting of the precious wood continues unabated in the Toledo District. On Wednesday night, a delivery truck preparing to load a large number of rosewood pieces was detected by the […]
Stop the Violence! Today a mini peace walk was held in downtown Belize City. It was organized by former political aspirant, Phillip “Faada” Henry. The walk is as a result of massacre of the George Street four during the course of Monday night. The walk, which started at Battlefield Park, lasted only a few minutes […]
Since the bodies of four George Street affiliates were found on Tuesday morning, there has been no further violence in the city’s hotspots. After meeting with the prime minister, some leaders of the gang left the City to cool off tensions. The rumor mill and citizen journalists on Facebook may have helped spread mass hysteria […]
It seems that while the entire country supports the government to find a strategy with haste that would end the violence on the streets, many don’t believe that any Prime Minister of Belize should hold private discussions or negotiations with gangs. But the meeting that occurred on Tuesday also included Minister of Housing Michael Finnegan. […]
On the day after the quadruple murders were committed, we went back to the scene of the massacre at the apartment building at the corner of Dean and Plues Streets. The area is still barricaded and there are more boots on the ground, but there is a foreboding air on the streets adding to the […]
Terror spread quickly through the George Street Area on Tuesday when shots were fired after the discovery of the four bodies. While the PM and security forces say that they were warning shots, there is video that shows the contrary. A bottle was hurled at police and B.D.F., which triggered the gunfire at the angry […]
The murders of Keino Quallo, Leonard Myers, Albert Fuentes and Anthony Perez of the George Street Gang, is likely to be one of the most difficult to crack for the police, which is now officially headed by Commissioner Allen Whylie. The bodies of Quallo, Fuentes and Perez were found in a pool of blood in […]
According to the Belize Tourism Board, arrivals peaked last year with record numbers of visitors. But to start the year and in the height of the high season, one of the biggest cruise lines, Carnival Cruise line has cancelled ten stops in Belize for 2013, starting as early as this week. That can have a […]
