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  • Court orders evaluation for woman in dog attack case

    Court orders evaluation for woman in dog attack case

    A shocking local dog attack case has moved through initial court proceedings, with a 73-year-old defendant ordered to undergo mandatory mental health assessment after she could not identify herself in a Nassau courtroom. The incident, which unfolded on September 9, left a three-year-old girl with severe head trauma that required urgent surgical intervention, sparking questions about caregiver responsibility and police protocol for vulnerable suspects.

    Rachel Morley, 73, and her 51-year-old son Clifton “Cliffy” Morley face charges linked to their mixed-breed dog, a Belgian Malinois-German Shepherd cross, that escaped from the family’s Ida Street residential property to attack the young child. Clifton Morley has already entered a formal not guilty plea to two counts: being the keeper of a dangerous dog that injured a person while at large in a public space, and failing to maintain proper control of the high-risk animal.

    Unlike her son, Rachel Morley was not asked to enter a plea during the initial hearing. When Magistrate Abigail Farrington requested she state her full name for the court record, the elderly woman could not respond. Though Clifton Morley attempted to provide the name on her behalf, the magistrate rejected the offer, citing proper court protocol.

    Farrington ruled that Rachel Morley will be released to her family while she completes a full psychological evaluation at a local public hospital, with family members ordered to ensure she keeps all assessment appointments. If she fails to complete the required evaluation, the court warned she could be placed in remand custody pending further proceedings.

    The Morley family has already publicly disclosed that Rachel Morley lives with early-stage dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Her nephew, Charlton Morley, explained that the family believes her cognitive condition led her to accidentally leave the property’s gate unlocked, allowing the dog to escape the premises. He has also raised sharp questions about police handling of his aunt’s detainment, noting that officers took her for questioning at the Wulff Road Police Station without any family member or legal representation present, despite knowing she lacks mental coherence. Charlton Morley emphasized that his aunt cannot understand the severity or legal implications of the incident she is accused of involvement in.

    Notably, the family does not dispute the core facts of the attack: they confirm the dog did escape the Ida Street property and maul the toddler. Charlton Morley also defended the family’s security measures, noting the property is surrounded by a six-foot fence topped with barbed wire, and the gate is fitted with a working lock. He argued that it is unreasonable to expect family members to provide 24/7 constant supervision of his aunt, given their other personal and professional obligations.

    In a related development, Charlton Morley — who faces additional charges connected to the case — was granted bail set at $5,000, with the requirement of one or two sureties. He was also ordered to check in at the Nassau Street Police Station by 7 p.m. on the last Sunday of every month as a condition of his release. Clifton Morley was expected to return to court on the day following the initial hearing for arraignment on additional charges, after he was forced to leave the first hearing early due to unforeseen medical issues. All defendants are currently scheduled to stand trial on January 26, 2027. Reserve Inspector Deveaux is representing the prosecution in the case.

  • Gardiner opts for March trial with co-defendants

    Gardiner opts for March trial with co-defendants

    A convicted Bahamian drug trafficker, Jonathan Eric Gardiner, has formally committed to standing trial alongside his co-defendants on March 1, 2027, and is asking the court for an additional 60 days to submit required pretrial motions. This decision eliminates the need for the key question that was set to be addressed at a scheduled September 23 status conference, bringing clarity to the procedural timeline of the high-profile case.

    In a court filing submitted on September 21, Gardiner’s defense counsel Susy Ribero-Ayala requested the court adjourn the previously scheduled status conference and extend the deadline for pretrial motions from the current October 2 date to December 1. This marks the second time the legal team has sought an extension for filing these motions; the original deadline was September 11, before the court granted an initial extension pushing the date to October 2.

    Ribero-Ayala confirmed in the filing that the September 23 conference had been called solely to resolve whether Gardiner would request a separate earlier trial or proceed with his co-defendants’ scheduled March 2027 start date. Following consultations between Gardiner and his legal team, the defendant has formally opted to move forward with the joint trial on the pre-set date, resolving the core issue the conference was meant to address. The defense has therefore asked the court to cancel the conference entirely if it accepts Gardiner’s decision via the written filing, but notes that both counsel and the defendant will appear as scheduled if the court prefers to confirm his choice directly in court.

    Beyond clarifying the trial date, the additional time requested by the defense would allow the legal team more room to review the massive volume of discovery materials, trace the full procedural history of the case, conduct independent investigations into the allegations against their client, assess which pretrial motions are legally necessary, and prepare thorough arguments for those motions.

    Prosecutors have signaled their opposition to the 60-day extension, though they have agreed to a smaller 30-day delay. The prosecution argues there is no legitimate legal justification for the longer extension, warning that a December 1 deadline would fall too close to the planned March 2027 trial and create unnecessary delays in the judicial process.

    In response, Ribero-Ayala has countered that granting the requested 60-day extension aligns with the interests of justice. She argues that the opportunity for the defense to fully prepare its case by reviewing evidence, investigating claims, and drafting appropriate motions outweighs the public interest in a speedy trial in this instance.

    This latest court filing comes just over one month after Gardiner was charged in a separate federal indictment out of Georgia. That indictment accuses him of coordinating the supply of massive volumes of cocaine from The Bahamas to transnational drug trafficking networks operating across the United States.

    The Georgia case is entirely separate from an ongoing prosecution in New York, where Gardiner entered a not guilty plea in June to charges of cocaine importation conspiracy and firearms-related offenses. Gardiner’s arrest in the New York case followed a dramatic series of events on May 12, when a private aircraft carrying him and 10 other passengers crashed into the Atlantic Ocean mid-flight between Abaco and Grand Bahama. Remarkably, all 11 people on board survived the crash and were successfully rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard.

    U.S. authorities reported that Gardiner was carrying $30,000 in Bahamian currency at the time of his rescue. His legal team later released a bank slip that they say proves $20,000 of that cash was withdrawn from an account belonging to Top Notch Builders, a company Gardiner has identified as his legitimate business in court filings.

    Records show Top Notch Builders has been contracted for major government-funded construction projects across The Bahamas, including the Eight Mile Rock administrative complex and the Carmichael Village affordable housing development, a large-scale public housing initiative. This is not Gardiner’s first brush with U.S. federal drug charges: nearly 20 years ago, he was convicted of cocaine importation offenses and served a lengthy federal prison sentence in the United States.

  • Lightning strike sparks fire, leads to widespread BPL outages

    Lightning strike sparks fire, leads to widespread BPL outages

    Early on Tuesday morning, a powerful lightning strike during an overnight tropical storm ignited a destructive blaze at a key transformer serving Bahamas Power and Light’s (BPL) rental generation facility in Blue Hills, leaving large portions of New Providence without power for hours. The fire, which broke out just after 5:30 a.m., was contained to the power station’s southwestern sector but caused catastrophic damage to the 25 MVA transformer at the center of the incident.

    Kennard Whyms, BPL’s station manager, explained that the lightning bolt made contact with critical infrastructure connected to the facility’s Aggreko-managed rental generation plant, creating a cascading electrical fault that forced all active generating units currently carrying grid load to automatically trip offline. “One of the isolators is burnt,” Whyms noted, pointing to a nearby utility pole that remained smoldering hours after local firefighters fully extinguished the blaze. “When the lightning strike occurred, it actually created a fault on the system at the plant, causing the other units that were on load to come off load.”

    Local fire officials received the alert for an active electrical fire just before 6 a.m., immediately dispatching two fire engines to the Blue Hills site. Crews quickly confirmed the fire was isolated to the transformer and brought it under control, though by that point the equipment had already sustained irreversible, extensive damage. Preliminary investigations confirmed the transformer is privately managed by an electrical contractor, whose on-site leadership told investigators they already suspected lightning as the root cause.

    On-site footage captured by BPL reveals the full aftermath of the blaze: blackened, melted metal components, scattered charred debris, and wiring burned beyond repair. Technical assessments from BPL found the lightning strike superheated the mineral oil housed inside the transformer, causing the liquid to boil and force its way out through a compromised pressure relief valve, which fueled the spread of the fire.

    The outage disrupted power service for communities across nearly all of New Providence, and created unplanned disruptions for local schools. Despite challenges ranging from campus-wide blackouts to flooding at multiple sites, Education Minister Chester Cooper confirmed all schools opened as scheduled Tuesday morning. “We teach resilience, and we don’t allow a spry of rain or electricity being off in one area to stop the show,” Cooper said, adding that individual campus administrators were empowered to make site-specific safety decisions if conditions warranted closure.

    The widespread disruption has reignited long-simmering criticism of the Bahamian government’s management of New Providence’s aging power grid from the opposition Free National Movement (FNM). FNM Deputy Leader Shanendon Cartwright acknowledged that extreme weather events like thunderstorms are outside of government control, but argued the incident exposes dangerous gaps in infrastructure protection and backup capacity. “Thunderstorms and lightning strikes are foreseeable realities in The Bahamas — not rare or unimaginable events,” Cartwright said.

    He is demanding full public transparency on multiple key questions: the current condition of lightning protection and surge suppression systems at the Blue Hills facility, the level of redundant backup capacity built into the island’s transmission network, and what targeted infrastructure upgrades will be implemented to prevent a repeat outage. “The government must now present a comprehensive power-resilience strategy that includes modern lightning-protection systems, stronger transmission safeguards, adequate redundancy, rapid-response protocols and transparent reporting following every major outage,” Cartwright added.

    Cartwright emphasized that widespread outages carry far more serious consequences than minor inconvenience, noting risks to temperature-sensitive food and pharmaceutical supplies, lost revenue for local small businesses, disrupted access to critical public services, and direct safety threats to residents who rely on electrically powered home medical equipment. “A lightning strike may be an act of nature,” he said. “A fragile grid without sufficient protection, redundancy and resilience is a failure of planning.”

    Local residents have also voiced widespread frustration on social media, with many sharing repeated experiences of power disruptions during routine bad weather and questioning BPL’s long-term reliability. One user wrote on the social platform X: “Lightning strikes all over the damn world, but BPL seems to be the only power company who friggen blows up every time there’s an inkling of a thunderstorm.”

    Despite the extensive damage to the transformer, BPL announced it had completed restoration power to all affected customers by 9 a.m. Tuesday, beating its initial projection that full service would be restored by noon at the latest. Whyms confirmed crews were working around the clock to bring all tripped generating units back online and fully stabilize the grid following the incident.

  • Woman awarded $4,750 after being mauled by two pit bulls

    Woman awarded $4,750 after being mauled by two pit bulls

    A Bahamas woman who suffered a vicious mauling by two unrestrained pit bulls after entering private property to purchase breakfast has been awarded $4,750 in damages, following a court ruling that found the dogs’ owner negligent for failing to implement reasonable safety measures for visitors.

    Acting Stipendiary and Circuit Magistrate Jonathan Deal issued the judgment on September 22 following a July 15 trial that found Shareid Lawson legally liable for the injuries sustained by Deborah Bastian on December 28, 2023, under both common law negligence and Section 53 of the 2010 Animal Protection and Control Act.

    Court documents outline that Bastian, a housekeeper at the Fleming Street clinic, was asked by a doctor at her workplace to pick up breakfast from a small food operation run by Lawson’s mother on the Finlayson Street property. It was the first visit for Bastian and her co-worker Tiffany Nesbitt, who relied on local directions to reach the location. When they arrived, the business was closed for the Christmas holiday — a closure that had been announced via WhatsApp, with the main customer entrance padlocked and blocked by a parked vehicle.

    Magistrate Deal’s ruling confirmed that the two women gained access to the property through an unlocked smaller residential gate fitted only with a sliding bolt that could be opened from the outside. The court rejected defense claims that clear closed-business signage and ‘beware of dog’ warnings were posted at the entrance, finding no sufficient visible warnings to alert visitors to the danger or prohibited entry. After entering the yard, knocking on the front door and announcing their presence, Bastian and Nesbitt walked toward the side of the property where Lawson’s two pit bulls were being kept loose with no physical barrier separating them from visitor areas.

    When the dogs charged, both women attempted to flee. Nesbitt made it out through the gate, which closed behind her, trapping Bastian inside the yard. Lawson’s sister Sharvine Williams arrived on scene and attempted to restrain the dogs by their collars, but Bastian tripped and fell while trying to run out, and the animals broke free to attack her. One dog bit Bastian’s thigh, leaving a deep puncture wound, while the other pulled at her braids and created another puncture wound on her scalp. A neighbor eventually intervened to separate the dogs from Bastian, who was first treated at her workplace clinic before being transferred to a local hospital for further care.

    The defense argued that Bastian was trespassing on the closed property, having entered through an unauthorized residential gate, but Magistrate Deal rejected this claim. He ruled that Bastian entered the property with the legitimate intent to purchase breakfast, giving her implied permission to approach the residence to contact the owners. The unlocked residential entrance and lack of clear signage prohibiting public entry further undermined the trespassing argument. While the magistrate acknowledged that Bastian should have stayed still when the attack began, he ruled that she did not intentionally provoke the dogs and that her actions during the attack were understandable given the extreme stress of the situation.

    Deal emphasized that Lawson should have reasonably anticipated that members of the public unfamiliar with the business’ holiday closure might still enter the property seeking to purchase food. He found that keeping unrestrained dogs in an area accessible to visitors was unreasonable, and the single sliding bolt on the residential gate was insufficient to prevent public access while the dogs roamed free.

    Bastian had originally sought $7,830 in general damages for her wounds, scarring, ongoing scalp sensitivity and resulting fear of dogs, but the court reduced the award because no medical documentation was provided to corroborate all claimed injuries. The final $4,750 award covers pain, suffering and loss of amenities, with Bastian also awarded $1,500 to cover legal costs.

    Bastian’s attorney Nioshi Ferguson-Wilson of Bostwick and Bostwick noted that the ruling highlights the critical need for proper dog restraint when residential properties are also used for public-facing businesses. ‘Mrs Bastian endured a horrific and terrifying attack,’ Ferguson-Wilson said. ‘She was chased and dashed to the ground, and while she was down two pit bulls were upon her, biting her in the thigh and head.’

    Either party has the right to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court within seven days of the judgment’s delivery.

    This court decision comes at a time of increased public and regulatory scrutiny of dangerous dog ownership and enforcement across The Bahamas, following a string of high-profile severe attacks this year. In late July, a nine-year-old American child named Beau Brattain suffered life-threatening injuries after being attacked by multiple dogs in Bimini. The dog’s owner, Harrington Rolle, was later sentenced to 12 months in prison after pleading guilty to charges of negligently causing grievous harm and keeping a dangerous dog at large. Earlier this month, a three-year-old girl named Skyla Lightbourne suffered head injuries that required surgery after a mixed breed dog escaped from a local property and attacked her. Animal control officers took custody of the dog following the attack. On Grand Bahama, 70-year-old Stephen Ferguson has pleaded not guilty to charges of negligence and allowing a dangerous dog to roam free following an alleged attack on an 11-year-old boy in early September, with his case adjourned until February 2025.

    In response to rising concerns over dangerous dog incidents, the Bahamian government launched the Mission Pawssible initiative, a 30-day amnesty period running from September 1 to September 30 designed to help dog owners bring their animals into compliance with national licensing, identification and animal control regulations. Authorities have confirmed that enforcement will be ramped up after the amnesty period ends, with financial penalties for non-compliance ranging from $50 to $1,000.

  • Govt opts for $400k Fresh Creek Bridge repair

    Govt opts for $400k Fresh Creek Bridge repair

    After ditching a billion-dollar temporary crossing proposal that failed to meet cost-effectiveness standards, Bahamian authorities have greenlit a $400,000 emergency repair project to reopen the condemned Fresh Creek Bridge on the island of Andros, government officials confirmed this week.

    Clay Sweeting, Minister of Works and Family Island Affairs, announced that remediation work is scheduled to kick off on October 1 and is projected to wrap up within 4 to 6 weeks. The policy shift reverses an announcement made back in August, when officials said they would install a temporary crossing to keep vehicle traffic flowing while a full permanent replacement was constructed. Contractors had pegged the cost of that temporary structure at more than $10 million, a price tag that Sweeting said was never feasible for his ministry.

    Following the bridge’s closure over safety concerns, ministry engineers carried out a full site assessment, evaluating both the temporary crossing option and the possibility of repairing the existing span. Robert Mouzas, Director of Public Works, explained that officials initially ruled out repairs, believing the damaged infrastructure was too compromised to fix, and began moving forward with plans for a temporary bridge. Upon further review, however, the team concluded the short-term temporary structure would not deliver value for public money, as it would only be needed for the relatively narrow window before a permanent replacement is completed.

    Additional engineering investigations ultimately uncovered a viable, low-cost repair solution for the existing bridge. The structure was condemned after inspectors found an intermediate pier had sunk, shifting structural load onto two external supports and pulling three concrete slabs down by a total of nine inches. Repairs will focus on stabilizing the defective span: crews will install four steel tubular piles, then use steel beams to jack up the sunken section and reinforce its load-bearing capacity. All work will be completed from the water, requiring a barge to be transported from another Family Island. Mouzas noted that coordinating the barge’s delivery caused the pre-construction delay, and added that the repair method matches a successful remediation done on another section of the bridge in the past.

    Once repairs are finished, vehicle traffic will resume across the crossing, allowing the temporary ferry service that currently connects the communities to be discontinued. Officials will implement ongoing structural monitoring to ensure safety in the interim before a permanent bridge is built.

    Leon Lundy, Member of Parliament for Central Andros, South Andros and Mangrove Cay, emphasized that the crossing is an indispensable economic lifeline that links communities across the island. “It’s the economic bridge between the north central side of Andros and the south central side,” Lundy said, noting that the connected regions rely on integrated economic activity and residents have been eager to see normal travel restored. “That’s what we’re hoping to do in the month of October, bring some normalcy back and then move towards getting a final permanent bridge fixed.”

    Looking ahead, the government will issue a request for proposals in the coming months to select a contractor for the engineering, design and construction of a full permanent replacement bridge. Preliminary plans call for a new crossing stretching from the northern dock to the southern creek bank. The new structure could be built adjacent to the existing crossing or on the same approximate site, with the final layout to be settled once a contractor is on board.

    The permanent project will also include a key environmental component: removing a section of the existing causeway that currently blocks a portion of the creek. Mouzas explained that the strongest tidal current runs through the creek’s deeper channel, and removing the obstruction will allow water to flow more evenly across the entire waterway. This adjustment will also improve access for boats using the local dock and benefit mangrove ecosystems located farther west. Currently, sections of the creek’s water are stagnant, a problem that developed from human modifications to the creek that created the blockage.

    The Ministry of Works and Family Island Affairs said it will release regular updates as repair work progresses and procurement for the permanent bridge moves forward.

  • Baha Mar Climate Week brings focus to conservation and climate action

    Baha Mar Climate Week brings focus to conservation and climate action

    The Bahamas is stepping up collective action against climate change, as the Baha Mar Resort Foundation officially launched Climate Week 2026, a landmark seven-day event that gathers stakeholders from across government, scientific research, conservation, civil society, and the arts to confront the growing climate risks threatening the island nation.

    Centered around the evocative theme *At the Edge of the Water*, the event runs from September 18 to 24, with a full lineup of activities spanning educational outreach, environmental restoration projects, and creative cultural programming all tied to advancing local climate action and protecting The Bahamas’ unique natural resources.

    The official opening plenary, held Monday at ECCHO on the Baha Mar resort campus, welcomed senior government environmental officials including Obie Roberts, Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources, and Dr. Rhianna Neely, Director of the Department of Environmental Planning and Protection. Co-hosted in partnership with the Bahamas Protected Areas Fund, the opening session delivered a frank assessment of the most pressing climate challenges facing the archipelago, alongside a detailed overview of ongoing conservation efforts being implemented across the country’s islands.

    In his opening remarks, Robert Sands, Senior Vice President of Baha Mar, emphasized the collective responsibility required to address the climate crisis: “Climate change presents very real challenges for The Bahamas. Addressing them will require government, the private sector, conservation organizations, non-profits, the creative community and Bahamians across our islands to play a part.”

    Programming for Climate Week actually got an early start last Friday, with the opening of the signature *At the Edge of the Water* art exhibition. The show features work from 24 local and regional artists, each exploring the deep, complex relationship between The Bahamas’ island communities and the surrounding waters that shape their culture, livelihoods, and daily life.

    On Saturday, the foundation continued hands-on action by partnering with the Public Parks and Public Beaches Authority and a local environmental non-profit to host a large-scale beach revegetation project at Nassau’s popular Saunders Beach, designed to restore natural coastal buffers that reduce erosion and storm surge risk.

    The remainder of the week’s schedule includes a range of targeted engagement activities: school outreach visits to teach K-12 students about climate science and local conservation, an interactive World Cafe dialogue session hosted in collaboration with the Organization for Responsible Governance, and a closing celebration titled *Poetry of the Natural World* — a poetry night and reception to be held at ECCHO on Thursday that will wrap up the week’s programming.

    Conservation is a core institutional priority for the Baha Mar Resort Foundation, forming one of its three foundational pillars alongside community development and cultural preservation. Beyond Climate Week, the foundation maintains a robust portfolio of ongoing environmental initiatives across The Bahamas, including large-scale mangrove and coral reef restoration projects, the national Queen Conch Education Program, and Baha Mar’s industry-leading Climate Friendly Travel initiative that works to decarbonize the country’s key tourism sector.

  • Mouldy ceilings, wet floors & rain buckets

    Mouldy ceilings, wet floors & rain buckets

    Two high-profile incidents across The Bahamas’ Family Islands have thrown long-simmering failures in the country’s rural healthcare system into the national spotlight, as nursing staff and public health advocates push for urgent government action to fix crumbling infrastructure and restore basic care access.

    In the northern Out Island of Bimini, graphic viral footage captured a patient being transported to a medical evacuation ferry in the open bed of a pickup truck, while a nurse stood alongside holding an umbrella to shield the patient from a torrential downpour. The patient was bound for South Bimini to catch an airlift to the main hospital hub in New Providence, but the island’s two clinic ambulances have remained idle and non-functional for more than a year, leaving medical teams with no other viable transport option. “It’s that bad,” the nurse can be heard saying in the circulating video.

    The incident sparked immediate national outrage, echoing identical incidents reported in Exuma and Long Island just one year prior, where patients also relied on open truck transport to reach emergency air services. Muriel Lightbourn, president of the Bahamas Nurses Union, slammed the unacceptable conditions, noting that vulnerable, already ill patients should never be forced to endure such treatment. “Could you imagine having to be placed on the back of a truck to get to seek medical help? Come on now,” she said, calling for immediate repairs to Bimini’s disabled ambulance fleet and emphasizing that all Bahamian residents are entitled to basic, dignified healthcare access.

    Responding to public pressure, Health and Wellness Minister Dr Michael Darville announced that a specialized maintenance team from New Providence would travel to Bimini this week to inspect the two out-of-service vehicles. According to Darville, one of the ambulances is a brand-new unit that may only require new batteries, while the second is a previously donated vehicle. The minister also confirmed that the national Cabinet has already given approval to purchase 10 additional new ambulances to expand capacity across the Family Islands. Bimini and Berry Islands Member of Parliament Randy Rolle reiterated his commitment to restoring full ambulance service for the island, though he cautioned healthcare workers to prioritize patient privacy when sharing incidents on social media, noting that “the attention generated by social media should never overshadow our common goal, which is to provide Biminites and all Bahamians with the dignity, compassion and quality healthcare they deserve.” Lightbourn quickly pushed back on criticism of the nurse who recorded the video, arguing that the worker faced a no-win scenario: had she refused to arrange the transport, she would have faced disciplinary action for abandoning her duties, so speaking out about the crisis was the only ethical choice.

    Half a hundred miles south in Abaco, the crisis deepened as nursing staff at the $12 million Marsh Harbour Healthcare Centre launched a full sick-out to protest more than 12 months of unaddressed complaints about the facility’s unsafe working conditions. Nurses report widespread toxic mould covering facility ceilings, a permanently broken air conditioning system, non-flushing toilets, a lack of hot running water, chronic shortages of critical medical supplies, persistent roof leaks that require buckets to be placed throughout the building to catch dripping water, and dangerous understaffing that leaves the few working nurses overburdened and at risk.

    In a public social media post defending the industrial action, Abaco-based nurse Lashawn Johnson argued that nursing staff should not be forced to sacrifice their own physical health to prop up a failing system. “Please don’t tell us how much nurses are ‘valued’ while continuing to ignore the conditions we are working under,” Johnson wrote. “Value us with action. Hire enough staff. Provide adequate services.” She emphasized that staff are not seeking special treatment, only the basic, safe working conditions required to care for patients effectively.

    Minister Darville confirmed that the sick-out, which launched Sunday night, has disrupted routine care services at the centre, though the exact number of participating nurses remains unclear. The minister noted that remedial care arrangements have already been put in place to ensure local residents can still access emergency and essential care, and a formal contract for facility repairs has already been awarded. Following an initial assessment trip by a ministry team to Abaco last week, Darville attributed many of the facility’s issues to an ageing air conditioning system that has been pushed beyond its limits by extreme seasonal heat, leading to excess moisture buildup that has fostered mould growth. Representatives from the Ministry of Environment will travel to the facility in the coming days to conduct a full new air quality assessment, after a May 2024 assessment found air quality satisfactory, conditions have reportedly deteriorated significantly in the months since.

    Darville stated that he will not make a decision about a potential temporary closure of the centre until he receives the new air quality results, noting that he refuses to put staff or local community members at unnecessary risk. “I have to wait on the air quality control report. That’s very important for me because I don’t want to put my staff or the community in harm’s way,” he said, adding that multiple nurses have already reported experiencing negative health impacts from the facility’s unsafe conditions. “That’s the logistics how it’s going to be done is where I’m at, but it’s not that we have not acted.”

  • Adriel’s mother pursues UB dream in her honour

    Adriel’s mother pursues UB dream in her honour

    Nearly two years after 12-year-old Adriel Moxey was violently killed while walking home from school in the Bahamas, her mother Sasha Moxey is turning unimaginable grief into purpose by stepping into the college classroom her daughter was never able to attend. Now an art education major who has studied at the University of The Bahamas (UB) for roughly 18 months, Sasha says her daughter’s tragic death gave her the final push to act on long-discussed plans to pursue higher education that she had put off for years.

    “She would have been the one heading to college next, not me,” Sasha shared in an interview with The Tribune. “When she passed, I just thought, why wait? It’s time for me to go to school in her place.”

    Adriel, a seventh-grade student at Anatol Rodgers High School, vanished shortly after leaving campus on November 18, 2024. Two days later, searchers found her body in thick underbrush along Faith Avenue South, a wooded stretch of the route she walked home every day. Official police records confirmed the young student died from strangulation.

    In a court hearing earlier this year, 39-year-old Chris Ferguson accepted a guilty plea to charges of murder, unlawful sexual assault, and unlawful detention for the attack. Justice Guillimina Archer-Minns ultimately sentenced Ferguson to 40 years behind bars. Prosecutors and court documents laid out the chilling details of the crime: Ferguson followed Adriel along the secluded bush path, tricked her into believing he lived nearby, and lured her into the vegetation, where he assaulted her before strangling her to death with a belt. Ferguson returned to the site the next day to move her body, investigators confirmed.

    Before sentencing, Sasha publicly pushed for Ferguson to receive a mandatory life sentence, a demand she never backed down from. Today, she acknowledges that the legal process has reached its end, but the hole left by Adriel’s absence will never close.
    “In one sense, there’s closure: the trial is over, and I never have to see that man again,” Sasha explained. “But it will never truly be closed, because she should still be right here with me.”

    The start of each new school year amplifies that pain, she says. Watching local students gear up for their first day of classes brings back sharp memories of Adriel’s own back-to-school plans, including her wish for a new Sprayground backpack for the semester she never got to start. A mother of three surviving children, Sasha says there are still days when small moments trigger memories of Adriel’s laugh, their casual conversations, and her warm hugs.

    To keep from being consumed by grief, Sasha fills her days with university coursework, part-time work, and caring for her family. Art was a shared passion between mother and daughter: Adriel often helped her mother sell her paintings to visiting tourists, a memory Sasha carries with her into every studio class she takes now. As she works toward her art education degree, Sasha says she is focused on finishing her program and building a better future in Adriel’s name. While she had talked about attending college for years before the tragedy, Adriel’s death made her realize there was no time to put her dream on hold.

    “All I can do is take this one day at a time,” Sasha said. Even as nearly two years have passed, she makes no effort to pretend the pain has faded. “I will never get over losing her,” she said. “A piece of my life will always be missing, no matter how much time goes by.”

  • Tourist assault suspect was not licensed: Lundy

    Tourist assault suspect was not licensed: Lundy

    A disturbing assault incident involving an unlicensed independent jet ski operator and an American tourist has prompted Bahamian authorities to roll out sweeping new safety reforms for the island nation’s popular water tourism sector, Transport Minister Leon Lundy has confirmed. The alleged attacker, who posed as a legitimate jet ski service provider at Goodman’s Bay to approach the out-of-town visitor, lacked both the mandatory operating license and an official identification badge issued by the Bahamas Port Department, Lundy said in an official briefing. He added that the suspect was operating entirely outside the government’s authorized regulatory framework for jet ski services, noting that only trained, vetted operators with official credentials are legally allowed to solicit tourism customers at public beaches. It remains unclear as of press time whether the suspect has been taken into police custody following the alleged attack. The incident dates back to September 11, when 25-year-old Briana Bazel, a tourist from Ohio, was approached by the man after her pre-booked online jet ski excursion was canceled. According to Bazel’s account, the man introduced himself as a licensed jet ski operator and tour guide, and offered the visitor and her friend a discounted combined sightseeing and jet ski rental package. Later that evening, after the group continued socializing off the beach, Bazel alleged that the man became violent when she rejected his unwanted sexual advances, punching her in the face outside a local entertainment venue. Minister Lundy extended his formal sympathy to Bazel for the traumatic experience, and urged any tourist or local who feels threatened at beaches or other public spaces across the Bahamas to immediately report incidents to local law enforcement. “I actually do feel sorry for the lady with the event,” Lundy said. “And I want anybody in that type of situation to go ahead and report it to police first.” The minister pushed back against suggestions that government regulators have been slow to address known risks in the jet ski tourism sector, noting that new safety measures will be unveiled in the near term. “We’re doing what we must do as a ministry,” he said. “And you’ll see in short order that we’ll have some technology rolled out that’ll help assist and mitigate these situations from happening.” In addition to new digital tracking and verification tools, Lundy announced that the Port Department has launched a new partnership with the Bahamas Police Force’s Sex Crimes Unit to update mandatory operator training curricula. The updated training will include explicit guidance on appropriate professional boundaries and how to de-escalate potentially problematic interactions with tourists. Long before this latest high-profile incident, the U.S. State Department has issued repeated public warnings to American travelers about safety risks linked to unregulated jet ski and personal watercraft operations in the Bahamas. The most recent update to U.S. travel guidance for the region notes that many independent operators lack valid operating licenses and liability insurance, and specifically cites a pattern of reported sexual assaults, serious injuries, and fatalities tied to unregulated operators. U.S. government employees posted to or traveling in the region are strictly prohibited from renting jet skis or personal watercraft from unvetted independent operators. Warnings from U.S. officials have grown increasingly urgent in recent years, following a string of widely reported sexual assault allegations involving American tourists and unlicensed jet ski operators across the Bahamas. Industry analysts note the incident highlights longstanding gaps in regulatory oversight of the Caribbean nation’s $4.5 billion tourism industry, which attracts more than 7 million visitors annually. While major resorts and licensed tour operators maintain strict vetting for water sports staff, unregulated independent operators often operate freely at public beaches, targeting tourists with lower prices and unscheduled services. The new reforms announced by Lundy aim to close that gap by creating a verifiable system to confirm which operators hold valid credentials, reducing the risk of tourists falling victim to scams, violence, or exploitation.

  • Tourist bloodied in alleged assault after encounter with jet ski operator

    Tourist bloodied in alleged assault after encounter with jet ski operator

    A 25-year-old American tourist from Ohio is speaking out about a violent alleged assault that left her injured and uncertain about ever returning to The Bahamas, a popular Caribbean travel destination that has faced repeated questions over tourist safety in its unregulated beach tourism sector.

    Briana Bazel and her best friend had traveled to New Providence for what was supposed to be a celebratory first trip to The Bahamas – and the friend’s first journey outside the United States. The pair had pre-booked a jet ski excursion online before leaving the U.S., but their planned activity was canceled just two hours after they arrived on the island on September 10. Stranded without their planned activity, the women were waiting at Goodman’s Bay on September 11 when a man approached them, introducing himself as a licensed jet ski operator and tour guide. He offered the pair a package combining jet ski rides and island sightseeing, and even connected them with his cousin to act as their private taxi driver.

    Bazel claims the man and his cousin showed official-looking badges to convince the women they were legitimate, though she now doubts the credentials were authentic. For most of the day, the outing proceeded without incident: the group went sightseeing, stopped at local restaurants, and completed the jet ski ride as promised. Later that evening, the two women ran into the men again at the Green Parrot venue, and the group accepted an invitation to move on to a separate lounge on Palm Tree Avenue.

    It was there that the situation turned violent, according to Bazel. After Bazel mentioned to her friend that she was menstruating, the man’s demeanor shifted dramatically. He grew angry, telling Bazel outside the lounge (away from the loud indoor music) that he believed she used the comment as an excuse to reject his sexual advances. When Bazel explicitly clarified that she had never intended to have sex with him, the confrontation escalated: he grabbed her arm, and when she pulled away, he punched her directly in the face.

    “I immediately started bleeding as soon as he did it,” Bazel recalled from her home in Ohio, adding that bystanders outside the lounge did nothing to intervene. “Nobody did anything, nobody helped.” She ran back inside to find her friend, too afraid to fight back as the man grew increasingly aggressive. Staff from the lounge escorted the pair to a local police station, where Bazel filed an official complaint. A police officer then took her to a local hospital for treatment, and a hospital worker drove her back to her Airbnb accommodation. The punch cut through her upper lip after it collided with her tooth, leaving her with severe pain that made eating and drinking nearly impossible in the immediate aftermath of the attack. Though her injury has healed since her return to the U.S., the emotional impact of the incident has left her hesitant to travel back to the country.

    Bazel shared her experience in a viral TikTok video, which opens with footage of her bloodied face holding a tissue to her swollen lip. As of press time, the video has amassed more than 54,000 views, and dozens of other female tourists have since reached out to Bazel to share their own similar allegations of harassment or scams connected to the same man and his taxi driver cousin.

    Following the filing of Bazel’s complaint, the Royal Bahamas Police Force has confirmed the investigation is active and has issued a wanted poster for the suspect. Local officials have acknowledged the seriousness of the allegations, though the industry regulatory process is still unfolding. Transport Minister Leon Lundy noted that it has not yet been confirmed whether the suspect is a licensed jet ski operator, a detail that sits at the center of growing concerns about unvetted operators in the Bahamas’ beach tourism sector. Lundy said the Ministry of Transport takes regulatory enforcement seriously, and will support the ongoing police investigation before taking any regulatory action within its authority once all facts are confirmed. He added that he hopes Bazel is receiving the care and support she needs, and encouraged any other victims of harassment or violence to come forward to file official complaints.

    Tourism Minister Glenys Hanna-Martin echoed that sentiment, saying she is deeply concerned about the social media conversation that has followed the incident, which has painted the Bahamas in a negative light. “My thoughts are with the young woman involved, and I sincerely hope she is receiving the care and support she needs following what must have been a very difficult experience,” Hanna-Martin said. “We are mindful of the impact incidents such as this can have on our tourism industry. We await the outcome of the police investigation and will allow the facts to guide any further action.”

    This latest allegation is not an isolated incident, and it reinforces warnings that the U.S. State Department has issued to American travelers for years. The State Department’s current travel advisory for the Bahamas explicitly warns of risks connected to unlicensed jet ski and personal watercraft operators, noting that many independent operators lack proper licensing and insurance, and have been linked to reports of sexual assault, serious injury, and death. U.S. government employees are officially prohibited from renting jet skis from unregulated independent operators in the country, and warnings were amplified after a string of reported sexual assaults involving American tourists and jet ski operators in recent years. Most recently, in April 2025, another American woman reported being raped by a jet ski operator near Junkanoo Beach, leading to formal charges against a suspect in that case.

    For Bazel, the future of any return to the Bahamas remains uncertain. She initially ruled out ever going back, but noted that she met many kind, welcoming Bahamian residents during the end of her trip, leaving her divided. “Until it seems like there’s going to be something done about it, I don’t think I would come back or even recommend people to go there,” she said.