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Two young men from the villages of Roaring Creek and Camalote were told on Monday in Supreme Court that they no longer had a case to answer on charges of murder. Twenty-one-year-old Damion Donovan Velasquez and twenty-year-old Justin Giovanni Banner were accused of killing teenager, sixteen-year-old Ivan Choc during a home invasion in Camalote Village […]
Written on February 21, 2018 | Posted in
Trials |
Comments Off on 2 Youths Acquitted of 2015 Cayo Murder
At the top of the newscast, we reported on the activities in the city where both parties pulled out their supporters in numbers. Nominations to fill a total of sixty-seven seats were also a big event in the other municipalities. In Orange Walk, the P.U.P. is the considered the favourite where Mayor Kevin Bernard continues […]
Written on February 21, 2018 | Posted in
Miscellaneous,
People & Places,
Politics |
Comments Off on Political Parties’ Pageantry in Orange Walk
There are four mayoral hopefuls for the San Ignacio/Santa Elena Town Council; Marconi Matus of the P.U.P., Earl Trapp for the U.D.P.; Rudy Wade for the B.P.P. and Independent Candidate Lupita Ferguson. The P.U.P. and U.D.P. have full slates and they showed up with music, flags, chanting through the streets of the western towns. The […]
Written on February 21, 2018 | Posted in
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People & Places,
Politics |
Comments Off on Twin Towns Nomination Day Sedated
The major parties, the People’s United Party and the United Democratic Party, submitted full slates of candidates for all nine municipalities, a total of one hundred and thirty-four nominees. But there are other candidates that were officially nominated across the country. The Belize Progressive Party is fielding candidates in five municipalities, including Belmopan, where Sam […]
Written on February 21, 2018 | Posted in
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People & Places,
Politics |
Comments Off on Who Else is on the Ballot?
The University of Belize has managed to persuade all four Belize City mayoral candidates to participate in a special debate which is ongoing at news time at the Bliss Center for the Performing Arts. Appearing on stage will be Bernard Wagner (P.U.P.), Dion Leslie (U.D.P.), Paco Smith (B.P.P.), and Ernesto Torres (Independent). According to the […]
Written on February 21, 2018 | Posted in
Miscellaneous,
People & Places,
Politics |
Comments Off on Candidates for Belize City Mayor Participate in Evening Forum
The campaign season has been relentless with plenty mudslinging and besmirching candidates at every turn. The People’s United Party has released an ad claiming that government is spending as much as two point four million dollars in tuition for tertiary students, in exchange for votes in favor of the ruling United Party. The allegation is […]
Written on February 21, 2018 | Posted in
Education,
Miscellaneous,
People & Places,
Politics |
Comments Off on Education Minister Explains Subsidy Funding
The search continues for a new Contractor General to replace Godwin Arzu, and for a new head of the Integrity Commission to succeed Justice Marilyn Williams who has moved on to the Supreme Court. The two posts are important cogs in the oversight machine but Prime Minister Dean Barrow says the Contractor General is more […]
Written on February 21, 2018 | Posted in
Miscellaneous,
People & Places,
Politics |
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Mesopotamia is historically a red constituency, controlled by career politician Michael Finnegan. It is also one of the smallest electoral divisions within Belize City. Despite its size, the mobilization of supporters was in full swing today, the enduring area representative bringing out as many as stalwarts to the U.D.P. rally. Today, he shared his predictions […]
Written on February 21, 2018 | Posted in
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People & Places,
Politics |
Comments Off on Michael Finnegan Talks Campaign Strategy in Mesop
In Port Loyola, it would seem as though Area Representative ‘Boots’ Martinez’s popularity has been waning. If one were to recall the voter turnout during the 2015 general elections, it is clear that his numbers were down considerably. So does he still have what it takes to muster support on behalf of the U.D.P. Eleven […]
Written on February 21, 2018 | Posted in
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Politics |
Comments Off on “Boots” Martinez Says He Can Still Deliver in Port
There’s another murder to report tonight. Twenty-four-year-old Santa Elena caretaker Gian Espat was chopped to death in the west. Just before midday today, police found Espat’s body inside a wooden house at Capital Heights in the Trapiche area of Santa Elena Town. Espat’s was found lying on a bed with a large cut wound to […]
Written on February 20, 2018 | Posted in
Crime,
Featured |
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The families of Jason Emmanuel and Hermelinda Pinks continue to reel in the aftermath of the murder suicide of the pair on Saturday. Pinks was found dead on her bed with a gunshot to the left side of her temple while Emmanuel was found with a gunshot wound to the right side of his temple […]
Written on February 20, 2018 | Posted in
Crime,
Featured |
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A three-year-old toddler from Silk Grass, Stann Creek District, lost his life by drowning in a well in the village. The boy, Keon Martinez, lived with his grandmother, fifty-one-year-old Francine Augustine. He had been playing on Monday afternoon between one and four o’clock and then disappeared. His mother, twenty-four-year-old Chelsey Castillo reported that her son […]
Written on February 20, 2018 | Posted in
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Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Toddler Drowns in Silk Grass
Business at the Commercial Free Zone continues to be affected by Mexican consumers purchasing goods and services in their homeland, instead of shopping in Belize. The exclusive business location was established in Corozal in 1994 to attract foreign direct investment. While it has grown considerably over the past two decades, companies operating within the zone […]
According to Juarez, there are instances where prices on the shelves at the free zone aren’t as eye-catching as they are across the border. While he could not provide an exact number in terms of closures, Juarez told News Five today that a partial scope trade agreement is in the works between Belize and Mexico. […]
Written on February 20, 2018 | Posted in
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People & Places |
Comments Off on Will Trade Agreement Help?
On the eve of nomination day, the Belize Progressive Party is charging that one of its municipal candidates in Punta Gorda Town was approached to step down as a candidate in return for payments of her bills and school fees. Councilor candidate Maria Lara says she had previously approached ranking officials of the United Democratic […]
Lara says she is disappointed by the incident, but her bosses at the B.P.P. are furious. Political leader Patrick Rogers told us via telephone this evening that the larger political parties are afraid of the Progressives as a viable political force and so have successfully poached candidates away previously. It is another symptom of what […]
Written on February 20, 2018 | Posted in
Featured,
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People & Places,
Politics |
Comments Off on Third Party’s Top Brass Condemn “Low” Political Tactics
This Wednesday, both major political parties are expected to take out their supporters in numbers as they head to the various offices designated for nomination centers, countrywide. There, after a vetting process by the presiding officer, it becomes official for their names to be printed on the ballots for the upcoming municipal elections on March […]
Written on February 20, 2018 | Posted in
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People & Places,
Politics |
Comments Off on Nomination Day is Here!
Nomination Day paves the way for Election Day. The voters list for the municipal election shows that there are one hundred and fourteen thousand five hundred and seventy-four persons eligible to vote, as of January tenth, 2018 – which was the final day of registration for the voters in the March elections. There are more […]
Written on February 20, 2018 | Posted in
Miscellaneous,
People & Places,
Politics |
Comments Off on No Cell Phones in the Voting Booth
Except for Belize City where voters are casting their vote for ten councilors and a mayor, in the Capital Belmopan and the remaining municipalities, it is six councilor candidates and one mayoral to each. Chief Elections Officer Tamai reminds that voting for more than the available seats will cause the ballot to be rejected as […]
Written on February 20, 2018 | Posted in
Miscellaneous,
People & Places,
Politics |
Comments Off on Rejected Vs Spoilt Ballots – What’s the Difference?
The Government has indicated that Contractor General Godwin Arzu will be replaced as a result of failing to meet requirements in legislation to submit annual reports on his work since 2013. However, Ombudsman Lionel Arzu is expected to be offered another contract to continue in that post. But are these important institutions providing quality results? […]
Written on February 20, 2018 | Posted in
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Fixing Government Oversight: the Case of the Contractor General
The Integrity Commission is presently without a chairman as now-Supreme Court Justice Marilyn Williams resigned at the start of January. On Friday we heard from Deputy Prime Minister Patrick Faber about the government’s difficulties in finding a replacement due to persons being unwilling to expose themselves to scrutiny. But Senator Mark Lizarraga told us that’s […]
Written on February 20, 2018 | Posted in
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Business Senator Says Integrity Commission Should Reverse Decision in Filing
A Caye Caulker resident is tonight recovering at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital for stabbing injuries he received just after eleven on Monday morning on the north side of the island. As police responded to a fight in the Palapa area, they would set chase after a vessel on the western side of the island […]
Written on February 20, 2018 | Posted in
Crime |
Comments Off on Stabbing Reported in Caye Caulker
Mario Vernon’s family says they will not let up. They believe that there is a cover-up surrounding the death of the twenty-four-year-old Punta Gorda resident and grandson of the iconic Leela Vernon. Vernon’s aunt gave an interview to our colleagues at PGTV and she says that they have even sent letters to the Prime Minister’s […]
Written on February 20, 2018 | Posted in
Crime,
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Mario Vernon Family Alleges Cover-Up, Harassment by Police
Belizean-American news anchor Kendis Gibson has another award to put on his shelf. He is scheduled to receive an award at the 2018 International Red Carpet Affair and Dance on April twenty-eighth. The Belizean native has credits as a reporter in New York City, San Francisco and Washington D.C. as well as with CNN as […]
Written on February 20, 2018 | Posted in
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Another Award for Kendis Gibson
What was once whispered about has now, in some quarters, been stated openly: no money, no vote! With municipal elections two weeks away, it is open season for vote-buying or trading favors of any kind is very much. But there is a message from the business community through Senator Mark Lizarraga tonight: the monies spent […]
Written on February 20, 2018 | Posted in
Economy,
Miscellaneous,
People & Places,
Politics |
Comments Off on Attitudes Must Change on Campaigning and Financing
