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  • R M Bailey mourns lightning strike victim

    R M Bailey mourns lightning strike victim

    The tight-knit community of R M Bailey High School came together on Tuesday to honor the life of 16-year-old Anton Bowe, a Grade 11 student whose sudden and tragic death after being struck by lightning on the school’s campus has left peers, educators and administrators grappling with overwhelming grief.

    Described by those who knew him as a quiet, warm-hearted young man with a sharp, endearing sense of humor, Bowe left a mark across the entire school community far beyond the walls of his own classrooms. He was particularly passionate and proud of his participation in the institution’s technical studies programme, an involvement that earned him widespread respect from staff and fellow students alike.

    Delmon Rolle, Bowe’s mathematics teacher, recalled the crippling shock he felt when he learned the victim of Monday’s incident was one of his own students. “After being told that a student died from what happened and finding out it is my student, it was very traumatising for my homeroom students and me also because, besides being in my math class, he is also known towards the whole grade 11, so my homeroom is a class he isn’t in, but it’s a class he affected,” Rolle shared.

    Errie Samario, an English teacher at the school, echoed that sentiment, remembering how Bowe’s gentle personality drew people to him. “Fun character. Everybody loved him in his time; he is quiet, but he is funny at the same time,” Samario said, adding that the entire school was thrown into disbelief by the freak accident. “When we heard about what happened yesterday, we were all shocked. I had to take a moment and let it just sink in because even now I cannot believe this could happen out of all the students under that tree, lightning strike one person, just one person.” Like many staff members, Samario’s thoughts have remained with Bowe’s loved ones in the wake of the tragedy: “I was so devastated yesterday, and I could imagine his colleagues in the class, his friends, his family. I cannot imagine the pain of the family at this time.”

    School principal Shari Russell emphasized that Bowe’s impact on R M Bailey extended far beyond his academic work. Calling him a student who made the entire institution proud, particularly through his work in technical studies, Russell noted that Bowe will be most remembered for his kindness and respect toward others. “He represented what we tell our pacers every day: go in line, do your work, and be each other’s people. That’s the kind of pacer that we are going to remember him for,” she said. Russell urged students to lean on one another as they process their loss, and encouraged any student or staff member struggling to reach out for professional support.

    The memorial service came one day after the fatal incident, which unfolded shortly after 9 a.m. on Monday as a severe weather system moved across New Providence. According to police reports, a school security officer had searched Bowe and watched him walk away moments before the lightning strike, which left him motionless. The school’s resource officer rushed to provide aid, noting Bowe had visible burn injuries and was unresponsive when they arrived. Emergency medical services transported the teen to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead at approximately 9:30 a.m.

    Word of the tragedy quickly spread, prompting distraught parents to rush to the Robinson Road campus to retrieve their children, while condolences and messages of concern circulated widely across social media platforms. Dominique McCartney-Russell, Director of Education, confirmed that school counsellors were immediately deployed to support affected members of the community, starting with Bowe’s homeroom teacher.

    Chester Cooper, Bahamas’ Minister of Education, also visited the campus to offer official condolences to Bowe’s family and the entire R M Bailey community. Cooper shared that he had spoken with Bowe’s aunt and guardian, who works as an educator at the school, and extended sympathies on behalf of the Ministry of Education, Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis and the national government.

    Cooper confirmed that ongoing grief counselling has been arranged for students and staff, and will continue throughout the week as needed. Additional counselling sessions are being organized with support from local pastors, external mental health counsellors and other community partners, to ensure anyone struggling has access to support.

    Police officials confirmed that detectives have already interviewed the school security officer who was on scene, and remain in close contact with Principal Russell and the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology as the investigation into the incident moves forward. Following Tuesday’s memorial service, the school dismissed all students and staff at noon to allow the community time to grieve.

  • BUT seals deal for teacher’s pay agreement

    BUT seals deal for teacher’s pay agreement

    After months of tense standoffs and prolonged negotiations between the Bahamas Union of Teachers (BUT) and the national government, the nation’s educators have secured a landmark five-year collective agreement that delivers meaningful salary bumps, lump-sum bonuses and targeted relocation benefits, marking one of the biggest labor victories for the country’s education workforce in recent years.

    The new industrial accord, which covers the 2025 to 2030 period, is set to be retroactively applied starting July 1, bringing immediate financial relief to thousands of teachers across the Bahamas. Under the terms of the deal, the maximum annual salary for experienced educators will rise to $54,000, while starting pay for new entry-level teachers has been boosted to $30,100. In addition to base salary adjustments, the agreement includes one-time lump-sum payments: teachers will receive $700 in the third year of the contract and $750 in the fifth and final year. A key win for educators working outside the main island is the new hardship allowance established for teachers who choose to relocate to schools on the Family Islands, addressing longstanding inequities for educators serving more remote communities.

    The breakthrough deal was finalized during a high-stakes meeting at the Office of the Prime Minister, attended by Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis, Education Minister Chester Cooper, senior finance and public service ministry officials, and BUT leadership. Emerging from the closed-door talks Wednesday morning, BUT President Belinda Wilson and union members greeted reporters with open celebration, expressing overwhelming relief that years of unresolved financial demands had finally been resolved.

    Negotiations over a new collective agreement first launched in October 2025, with deadlocks plaguing talks for months as the union repeatedly rejected the government’s successive counterproposals. Initially, BUT had pushed for a 20 percent total salary increase phased over three years. Tensions reached a fever pitch last week, after teachers voted down the government’s sixth offer by an overwhelming margin. In response, the union placed more than 1,400 members on formal industrial action alert, opening the door to strikes or work stoppages that would have disrupted classrooms across the country. This latest threat was the culmination of months of repeated warnings from the union that industrial action would be unavoidable without a fair deal.

    On Wednesday, however, Wilson told cheering members that the threat of work stoppage could be called off, joking that educators could put their “tennis shoes” — a reference to protest footwear — back in their closets, as all core demands had been met. She added that the salary increases are expected to appear on teachers’ paychecks as early as the September or October pay cycle, bringing faster than expected relief.

    Reflecting on the adjusted terms, Wilson noted that the union agreed to shift from a three-year 20 percent increase framework to a five-year arrangement aligned with the government’s fiscal timeline, a compromise that ultimately delivered more sustainable long-term gains for members. “What we did is, we put together a five-year proposal that balanced our needs against the government’s position, and we’re pleased with what we’ve gotten today,” Wilson said. “And I think our members will be very, very happy.”

    Education Minister Chester Cooper echoed that positive tone, framing the negotiated deal as a launchpad for broader progress in the country’s education sector. He described the final meeting as productive and collaborative, noting that the government and BUT would now shift focus to working together to drive transformative change for Bahamian education. “This is a positive outcome. It’s a great day for education,” Cooper said.

  • Men risk safety to save resident from burning home

    Men risk safety to save resident from burning home

    On a routine Monday afternoon, a group of quick-thinking local residents put their own safety on the line to pull an elderly man out of an engulfed residential fire in the Stapledon Gardens neighborhood, pulling off a successful rescue before first responders could arrive at the scene.

    Vaklev Bastian, one of the lead volunteers in the rescue, recounted that he was driving through the area just before 3 p.m. when a thick plume of brown smoke caught his eye. Driven by curiosity and concern, he deviated from his route to trace the smoke back to its source, winding through the back streets of Stapledon until he reached the burning single-story duplex on Landrail Close.

    When he arrived, Bastian spotted a neighbor on the phone emergency dispatchers, and quickly learned that a 60-something to nearly 70-year-old man was trapped inside the burning structure. He immediately parked his car and joined another local who had also responded to the smoke. The pair was told the trapped resident was hiding in the bathroom, so they rushed through the growing heat and smoke to reach him. They managed to kick the locked bathroom door open, but intense flames blocked their path into the room, forcing them to rethink their strategy.

    First, the rescuers tried using a garden hose to push the flames back and reach the man, but that approach failed to clear a safe path. Bastian called out to the trapped man to navigate his way through the fire to the back door, but the man was too overcome by fear and smoke to make the journey through the burning home.

    For roughly 15 to 20 minutes, the growing group of volunteers worked to find an alternate route. Eventually, they came up with a plan: they fed a ladder through the bathroom window from outside, giving the trapped man a clear escape route. The elderly man crawled across the bathroom to the opening, climbed onto the ladder, and the waiting volunteers pulled him to safety outside. By the end, an estimated 8 to 9 local men had joined the coordinated effort, all stepping forward without any formal rescue training to save a neighbor’s life.

    Reflecting on the harrowing but successful effort after the rescue, Bastian said he felt nothing but gratitude that the group was able to pull off the save. “It was wonderful, man. That’s what we were born to,” he said, emphasizing that helping others in crisis is a natural calling.

    Official accounts from law enforcement confirm the timeline: police were first alerted to the structural fire and trapped resident shortly before 3 p.m. By the time police and dispatched fire crews arrived at the scene, neighbors had already gotten the elderly man out of the home.

    Emergency Medical Services conducted an initial assessment of the man on site before transporting him to a local hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation. Firefighters quickly got the blaze under control and fully extinguished it, with investigators noting that one half of the duplex suffered extensive structural damage from the fire, while the adjacent unit only had minor smoke damage.

    As of the latest update, the cause of the fire has not been determined, and authorities are continuing their investigation into what sparked the blaze.

  • Junkanoo season kicks off with $900K in seed funding

    Junkanoo season kicks off with $900K in seed funding

    The Bahamas’ iconic Junkanoo carnival celebration has officially opened its 2026 season, marking a major milestone as the newly established National Junkanoo Authority disbursed more than $900,000 in seed grants to participating groups across the archipelago.

    More than 50 competitive Junkanoo groups, spanning A, B, and D categories, alongside five recreational troupes and multiple collectives from the country’s Family Islands including Eleuthera, Grand Bahama, and Central and North Andros, signed formal participation contracts outlining event rules and funding terms ahead of the season’s kickoff. Funding amounts have been held steady from previous cycles, with top-tier A category groups receiving $40,000 each and B category groups awarded $20,000 each.

    The launch caps a year of major governance restructuring for the beloved cultural tradition. The National Junkanoo Authority was created by parliamentary legislation passed in March 2026, but only became fully operational three weeks ago, when board members received their formal appointment documents and held their inaugural meeting. The restructuring followed a bitter dispute between the Bahamian government and the long-standing Junkanoo leadership community in October 2025, when the government transferred oversight of that year’s parades from the Junkanoo Corporation of New Providence (JCNP) — the historic self-governing body for the event — to an interim National Junkanoo Committee. The JCNP had previously criticized the new governing legislation as an attempt to centralize state control and erode the community’s long-standing autonomy.

    Speaking at the official launch, Culture Minister Leslia Miller-Brice outlined the government’s new long-term vision for Junkanoo, centered on expanding access to the tradition beyond its traditional holiday parade dates by integrating it into school curricula and year-round tourism programming. The Ministry of Culture has already begun collecting data to assess the cultural event’s long-term financial sustainability and map the condition and support needs of the iconic Junkanoo shacks where groups build their elaborate parade costumes and floats.

    Miller-Brice called for unity across the Junkanoo community as the new season gets underway, urging groups to compete with passion while upholding values of mutual respect, public safety, and collective care for young participants and behind-the-scenes workers. She emphasized that historic legacy organizations like the JCNP remain critical stakeholders in the new governing structure, noting that the new authority stands to benefit from decades of institutional knowledge built by long-time community leaders.

    “Those organizations have done a fantastic job. I think we stand on their shoulders,” Miller-Brice said. “It’s important for us to feed from them, to learn from them, and to gain the wealth of knowledge that they’ve gained over this time. To those persons who were a part of those organizations, we welcome the collaboration. Mr. Dion Miller, he is a part of the National Junkanoo Authority, and so he will be there to guide us, to help us, just to ensure that any mistakes that they would have made in the past, moving forward, that those same mistakes will not be made again.”

    National Junkanoo Authority Chairman Dr. Christopher Curry confirmed that the board has moved quickly to set up operations in the three weeks since members received their appointment letters, holding two full board meetings to date. The authority has already formed specialized subcommittees to oversee core responsibilities, begun drafting its first annual operating budget, and taken key steps to build long-term financial stability as a formal government entity. It has also completed a full strategic plan for the 2026–2027 fiscal year and begun the process of assembling a full-time management team.

    This week, Junkanoo group delegates will elect six group representatives to fill seats on the new authority’s Management and Planning Committee. Two delegates from each registered group will take part in ongoing parade planning, with the first working session scheduled for this Friday.

    JCNP Chairman Dion Miller, who holds a statutory permanent seat on the new authority’s board, said the 2026 season marks the first time the new overarching governing body is fully functional. Under the new structure, the JCNP and former interim National Junkanoo Committee will operate as sub-committees under the authority’s umbrella, with most of their existing functional structures for parade rules and operations remaining intact.

    Despite the heated tensions of 2025, Miller said he is ready to move past past disagreements to advance the shared goal of growing and protecting Bahamian Junkanoo culture, noting that collaboration and communication with Minister Miller-Brice has been “stellar” to date.

    “It is what it is. My focus now is moving forward, moving Junkanoo forward, united, and to push the culture forward. So any grievances that would have occurred in the past is in the past. My focus now as the chairman and as someone who is on the authority is to move the culture forward,” Miller said.

    A minor early misstep saw Miller not receive meeting invites for the authority’s first two sessions, a mistake Dr. Curry and Miller-Brice have already moved to correct. Dr. Curry said the oversight was not intentional, and that he has since spoken with Miller to share full meeting minutes and bring him fully into ongoing work. Miller-Brice echoed that framing, confirming the issue has been fully resolved and all stakeholders are now aligned to deliver a successful 2026 season.

    To inform long-term planning, the Ministry of Culture has also collected public and stakeholder input via two separate surveys: the National Junkanoo Cost, Sustainability, and Economic Impact Survey, and the Junkanoo Shack Location Survey, which will help guide future investment in core Junkanoo infrastructure.

  • Lightning strike kills R M Bailey student

    Lightning strike kills R M Bailey student

    A sudden and devastating tragedy has left the Bahamian education community reeling after a 16-year-old male Grade 11 student was killed by a lightning strike on the grounds of R M Bailey High School in New Providence yesterday morning, triggering panic among parents and an outpouring of grief across the nation.

    The fatal incident unfolded just after 9 a.m. as a severe thunderstorm system moved across the island. Initial police accounts detail that a school security officer had completed a routine check of the student and watched him walk away before the strike occurred. Moments later, the student was knocked motionless by the lightning bolt, which left clear burn injuries on his body. The security officer quickly alerted the school’s on-site resource officer, who rushed to the scene to administer first aid and found the teenager unresponsive. Emergency Medical Services was called immediately, and crews transported the victim to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead at approximately 9:30 a.m.

    Law enforcement investigators have since attended the campus to interview witnesses and review the circumstances of the incident, and they remain in close coordination with the school’s principal and the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, which is supporting the ongoing investigation.

    As word of the student’s death spread rapidly across local communities and social media, panicked parents immediately descended on the Robinson Road campus to retrieve their children, many voicing deep fear for their own kids’ safety and frustration over a perceived lack of official communication from the school. Joyce Brown, a parent of a student at the school, told reporters she learned of the incident by chance while shopping for her son’s school uniform. “I couldn’t function anymore. I am sad because it could have been my son. When they said it was a male, I just stopped everything I was doing. I’m still anxious right now – it’s so scary, it could have been anybody,” Brown said, adding that she never received an official alert from the school about the tragedy, a concern shared widely by other parents on social media.

    Education officials have pushed back on that criticism, explaining that their first priority was addressing the acute trauma experienced by students and staff rather than immediately dismissing students or contacting families. Education Director Dominique McCartney explained that the student’s homeroom teacher was particularly distraught in the wake of the event, so school leaders prioritized bringing in counsellors to provide immediate emotional support before any students left campus. “Our children and our team members are distraught. We did not want to send our children home without talking to them and offering them comfort. That had to be our first step,” McCartney said.

    Once crisis counselling was initiated, parents were allowed to collect their children, and all school staff were permitted to leave early. C H Reeves High School, a close partner and “sister school” to R M Bailey, also dismissed students early out of respect for the close ties between the two school communities, while other schools across the district will continue operations with adjustments assessed on a case-by-case basis.

    Education Minister Chester Cooper traveled to the campus yesterday to meet with school leaders and offer official condolences. He shared that he had spoken directly with the student’s aunt and guardian – who works as a teacher at the school – and extended sympathy on behalf of the Ministry of Education, Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis, and the entire Bahamian government. “We are all saddened and all in grief. This is a heartbreaking loss for the entire R M Bailey School family,” Cooper said.

    Grief support services have been organized for students and staff, and will continue throughout the week as long as they are needed. Additional counselling sessions led by trained counsellors and local pastors are scheduled for today, with group sessions held under R M Bailey’s pavilion and at C H Reeves, and one-on-one support available for any community member that needs it. School leaders are also planning a formal memorial service to honor the student’s life and allow the community to grieve together.

    Top political figures across the country, including Prime Minister Davis and Opposition Leader Michael Pintard, have released statements offering their condolences to the student’s family and the entire R M Bailey school community.

    In the wake of the tragedy, the Ministry of Health and Wellness has issued a public reminder about thunderstorm safety, as The Bahamas faces variable and often extreme weather during the annual hurricane season. Officials urged residents to always seek sturdy shelter during thunderstorms, and to avoid exposed areas, windows, exterior doors, and open bodies of water. They also warned against walking or driving through floodwaters, and urged extra caution for anyone near coastal or marine areas when weather conditions turn hazardous.

  • Search on for missing family

    Search on for missing family

    A large-scale coordinated search operation is ongoing for four remaining members of a family whose small aircraft vanished over waters off North Andros, the Bahamas, on Monday, following an in-flight emergency that left one person already confirmed dead, according to local authorities and family statements.

    The doomed flight, a US-registered five-seat Piper PA-34 with registration number N212ML, was carrying experienced pilot Mario Lamar, his wife Lili, and their two grandchildren Sofia Sosa and Christian Sosa. The group was heading from Great Harbour Cay, where they had finished a holiday at their second home, to Opa-locka, Florida, when the aircraft ran into trouble mid-flight.

    The family’s last communication was a text message sent Monday confirming the group had departed for home. When hours passed with no further contact, relatives grew alarmed. In an official statement released Tuesday, the family confirmed one person on board had been found dead but declined to release the victim’s identity, requesting privacy to process their loss.

    Preliminary flight tracking data confirms the aircraft departed just after 10 a.m. local time, and contact with air traffic control was lost roughly 13 miles west of Andros. Before radar contact was lost, the plane was recorded circling near Red Bay, North Andros, before beginning an uncontrolled descent.

    Multiple agencies have been activated for the search: the Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF), the Bahamas Air Sea Rescue Association, and the US Coast Guard all deployed assets to the region within hours of the plane being reported missing. Local commercial fishermen have also joined the operation to assist with scouring the search area, and additional civilian vessels organized by family friends are en route from Florida to boost search capacity, alongside another private vessel already staging in Bahamian waters.

    Initial sweeps of the plane’s last known position off North Andros’ west coast returned no trace of the aircraft or remaining passengers as of late Tuesday night. Search efforts were temporarily paused after worsening weather created unsafe conditions for crews, but operations resumed once conditions stabilized. RBDF Public Relations Officer Lieutenant Darius Adams confirmed late Tuesday that search teams would continue scouring the area overnight, despite ongoing choppy sea conditions that had delayed the start of operations.

    “ We have another flight that’s going out first light,” Adams said, adding that difficult sea conditions would not stop teams from continuing their work.

    Bahamas police have stated that locating the aircraft and its remaining occupants remains their top priority, and officials have committed to releasing new public updates as more information becomes available. For their part, grieving family members have issued a public appeal for additional assistance from anyone in the region who can help, saying they are desperate to bring their remaining loved ones home. Relatives also emphasized that pilot Lamar had extensive training and decades of flying experience, and that the Piper aircraft was well-maintained, fully inspected, and outfitted with all required safety equipment before takeoff.

  • Sands pushes for early FNM convention

    Sands pushes for early FNM convention

    Following the Free National Movement’s (FNM) disappointing defeat in the May general election, the party’s chairman Dr. Duane Sands has publicly broken with the initial plan to delay a leadership convention until October 2027, arguing that the multi-year timeline is unreasonable and counterproductive to the party’s rebuilding efforts. In a televised interview on Our TV’s *On the Record* program last week, Sands laid out his vision for the party’s path forward, while stopping short of issuing a direct call for current leader Michael Pintard to step down.

    Sands, who serves as the FNM’s administrative chief, argued that waiting until 2027 to hold a leadership convention is far too long for a party still reeling from an electoral loss that required deep internal reflection. The party’s Central Council, the second-highest governing body behind the convention itself, has already begun moving to adjust the timeline, according to Sands, with the first step being a transparent, objective post-mortem of the election defeat.

    A core part of the planned evaluation, Sands emphasized, will be reaching outside the party’s inner circle to gather unfiltered feedback from voters who opted not to support the FNM in the recent vote. “If you only have FNMs talking, then you have an echo chamber,” he explained, noting that the goal is to collect honest input from non-supporters and abstaining voters on why the party failed to win their support, rather than reinforcing existing internal narratives. When asked to name a target timeline for the long-awaited convention, Sands said he believed the gathering should be held within the next several months, while clarifying that his personal position does not override the authority of the FNM’s governing bodies. “When you have the privilege of leading, as I do, my personal views are subject to the directives of the Council of the Free National Movement. But once a decision is made by Council, that is what I speak,” he noted.

    Sands’ comments come amid mounting internal tension within the FNM, triggered by recent public remarks from former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham, who urged the party to “find someone who could win” ahead of a recent Leadership Council meeting held at the home of ex-party leader Tommy Turnquest. Ingraham’s call drew a sharp rebuke from Pintard, who argued the former prime minister chose the wrong forum to question his leadership, while maintaining that he remains the best candidate to lead the party. But Sands pushed back against the interpretation that Ingraham’s comments were a direct attack on Pintard’s leadership.

    “I don’t believe it was directed specifically — that this was a Pintard-specific message,” Sands said. “I think it is a message that says, whomever you choose to lead, make sure that they bring whatever it is to the table that can get FNM supporters, disaffected PLPs, independents to vote in large numbers.” He also noted that Ingraham’s recent comments do not contradict his public endorsement of Pintard issued four months before the election, explaining that the former prime minister likely expected the party to perform far better at the polls than it ultimately did.

    When asked directly whether Pintard should resign in the wake of the election defeat, Sands noted that the FNM leader had already placed his political fate in the hands of the party membership. “It was very clear that he felt that his fate was not predetermined; that he thought it only appropriate, given the circumstances, that the party determined whether or not they would wish him to carry on or not,” he said. Pressed on whether Pintard should lead the FNM into the next general election, Sands gave a nuanced answer: while he confirmed Pintard is capable of holding the leadership role, he stopped short of saying it was the right choice for the party. “Can he? Yes, he can. That’s a different question,” he said.

    Sands acknowledged that ongoing uncertainty around the party’s leadership has made Pintard’s day-to-day work more challenging, but praised the current leader for continuing to fulfill his duties. “He carries on because he’s a soldier. He carries on because he has a phenomenal and abiding love for this country,” Sands said.

    Outlining his own analysis of the FNM’s May election defeat, Sands pointed to a range of contributing factors, singling out the party’s poor voter turnout operation as a key issue. “I think a number of persons did not feel inclined to come out and vote, and you know when you have an inability to get out the vote, you suffer,” he explained. In a final update on the party’s leadership structure, Sands confirmed that Deputy Leader Shanendon Cartwright remains an active and integral member of the FNM’s senior leadership team, with full access to platforms to address national issues, even though he was not appointed to the Senate following the election.

  • Reid warns gangster life leads to prison or death

    Reid warns gangster life leads to prison or death

    The Bahamas has faced a years-long, devastating public safety crisis driven by intergang conflict, retaliatory bloodshed, and rising gun-related homicides that have claimed the lives of both gang members and innocent bystanders. Now, a seasoned crime consultant with personal experience in street life is sounding a urgent alarm to young people who may be drawn into violent criminal activity: the cost of a gang lifestyle is far too high, and even the most powerful gang leaders are not beyond reach of violence or justice.

    Speaking exclusively to The Tribune, Carlos Reid, a trusted advisor on gang intervention and community safety, emphasized that the life expectancy of those involved in gang activity is drastically shortened, and few who build their lives around violent crime escape either a prison sentence or an early death. “No one involved in this life is untouchable,” Reid explained. “Even those who have built reputations as unassailable kingpins are now being targeted and killed. If you serve time in prison, you may get temporary protection inside, but once you are released, the cycle of violence almost always catches up to you.”

    For those who have already walked this path and want to leave their criminal lives behind, Reid laid out a clear non-negotiable condition: cutting all ties to the networks, locations, and habits that kept them tied to violence. While Reid confirmed that many former gang members have successfully transitioned to become law-abiding, contributing members of society, he also stressed that the road to redemption is far from easy, and former offenders do not escape the lasting consequences of their past actions.

    One of the most underrecognized risks for those leaving gangs, Reid noted, is retaliation not from fellow gang members, but from grieving families who have lost loved ones to gang violence. “If you took someone’s brother, what explanation could you give that would ease that pain?” Reid said. “People hold personal vendettas, and even if you’ve changed your life, you can still become a target for the harm you caused in the past.”

    Reid also warned that even people with loose ties to gang activity can become targets of violence, noting that attackers who cannot reach the person they want to harm will often target their family members or close associates instead. Drawing from his own personal history of living in street life, Reid shared that he made the choice to leave because he knew he could not survive in that world forever. He closed with an urgent plea to young people who are currently involved in criminal activity: turn away from the lifestyle now, before it is too late to change your path.

    The ongoing wave of violence aligns with longstanding warnings from Bahamian law enforcement and government officials, who have repeatedly urged the public to be mindful of their social circles, especially when associating with individuals out on bail for murder or attempted murder charges.

  • Long Islanders fed up with unreliable mailboats

    Long Islanders fed up with unreliable mailboats

    For months, residents and business owners across Southern Long Island have endured crippling disruptions to their only primary supply link to the capital, Nassau, amid sharply reduced and inconsistent mail boat operations that have put livelihoods and even public health at risk. What was once a consistent three monthly trips by M/V Mia Dean Ltd, the designated service provider for the southern portion of the island, has been cut to just two voyages per month for the past three months, leaving communities cut off from the essential goods that all aspects of daily life depend on.

    Erica Darville, a Clarence Town local who has lived on the island for decades and operates a local bakery, described the ongoing situation as completely untenable. “This is our lifeline – everything we need comes from Nassau, so these cuts affect every single person on the island,” she explained. For small business owners like Darville, the reduced schedule makes it impossible to stock up on perishable ingredients in advance, forcing constant last-minute scrambling to source what is needed for daily operations. “You can’t order extra lettuce, tomatoes or sweet peppers to stock up – they would spoil before you can use them. We have to get fresh supplies week to week, and right now, we can’t count on that,” she added.

    While a second mail vessel, the Island Link, operates in the broader Long Island region, it primarily caters to the northern end of the island and also dedicates most of its cargo capacity to deliveries for Exuma, making it an unworkable backup for southern residents. One local business owner, who chose to speak anonymously to avoid retaliation, noted that even when southern residents do manage to route shipments through Island Link, there is no financial protection for lost or damaged cargo, leaving too much risk for businesses to depend on the service. “That boat can’t handle the full demand of Long Island and Exuma,” the owner said. “We occasionally use it, but if goods go missing, we get no compensation. It’s just not a viable option.”

    Beyond economic disruption, the inconsistent service has created serious public health risks for residents who rely on regular deliveries of prescription medication. Darville shared her own family’s recent ordeal: her daughter, who lives with a seizure disorder, went five full days without her prescribed anti-seizure medication after a scheduled mail boat voyage was delayed. Because the medication is controlled by prescription refill rules that require patients to exhaust their current supply before a new order can be filled, any delay in delivery creates an immediate gap in care. “This isn’t an inconvenience, it’s a danger,” Darville said. “Why is M/V Mia Dean still holding this contract? They aren’t holding up their end of the deal. Cancel the contract and give it to an operator that can actually provide reliable service – we’ve put up with this for far too long.”

    Frustration over the quality and reliability of the island’s mail boat service is not a new issue. Local residents have raised complaints repeatedly over the years, but the recent cuts have pushed community patience to a breaking point. When contacted for comment, Long Island’s Member of Parliament Dr. Andre Rollins acknowledged that the current service is in a “deplorable state” and confirmed that the responsible minister has committed to addressing the crisis at an upcoming public meeting with residents.

    “Unless the minister fails to follow through on his commitment to fix this problem in a timely manner, any criticism of him right now would be premature,” Dr. Rollins said, “That said, the patience of the people and business owners in South Long Island has just about run out.” As of press time, officials from M/V Mia Dean Ltd had not responded to multiple requests for comment from The Tribune.

  • Kelly’s Back-to-School Giveaway winners

    Kelly’s Back-to-School Giveaway winners

    As millions of students across the country pack their bags and step back into school hallways for the 2026–2027 academic term, a small group of young learners gets to kick off their year with a joyful surprise, courtesy of a popular local home goods retailer’s long-running community promotion.

    Kelly’s House & Home, a leading retailer specializing in home and everyday goods, has wrapped up this year’s edition of its popular annual Back-to-School Giveaway, a promotion designed to add extra excitement to the annual back-to-school shopping rush for local families. The giveaway was structured to reward customers who were already purchasing essential school supplies for the new term, automatically entering any shopper who spent at least $25 on qualifying school supplies into the prize drawing.

    This year’s promotion awarded six distinct prizes to six lucky winners, ranging from practical supplies to fun, useful gifts for student life. The full prize pool includes two themed back-to-school gift baskets packed with essential supplies, two new bicycles for commuting or after-school recreation, an Acer Aspire laptop that will support a winner’s schoolwork and digital learning, and a one-of-a-kind giant crayon stocking that has become a beloved signature of the annual promotion. For each young recipient, the unexpected win has turned the routine start of a new school year into a memorable milestone they will likely talk about for months to come.

    Beyond the immediate thrill of the prize draws, the annual giveaway also taps into the broader sense of anticipation that defines the back-to-school season for families across the country. Back-to-school shopping is far more than a routine errand; it is a key ritual that helps students get organized mentally and physically for the return to structured learning, equipping them with the tools they need to succeed in class and beyond.

    The start of a new academic year always brings with it a fresh slate: new chances to explore new subjects, set personal and academic goals, and build on the progress students made in previous terms. As final lesson plans are put together by teachers and families wrap up their last-minute preparations, students of all ages are looking ahead to a year of new discoveries, personal growth, and meaningful learning experiences.