Happy birthday, Beacon
The BVI Beacon turned 33 yesterday. The newspaper has come a long way since its first issue was published on June 7, 1984. That black-and-white edition, which was 12 pages long, was composed on a single electric typewriter in the building that now houses The Dove restaurant, which served as the Beacon’s first office. Today, the Beacon routinely exceeds 60 pages, publishes a range of supplements, and has a growing web presence. Beaconites thank readers and advertisers for their support through the years.
Recording the courts
When a Beaconite entered last month’s afternoon session of the trial involving Claude Skelton-Cline’s lawsuit against government, he was surprised to find an attorney for Mr. Skelton-Cline asking High Court Justice Vicki Ann Ellis to prohibit the media from recording the trial. In response to the request, Ms. Ellis asked the attorney whether there are any statutes in the Virgin Islands that permit her to bar the media from recording. When the attorney could not cite any, Ms. Ellis stated that she would not infringe on the territory’s press freedoms, and allowed the Beaconite and one other reporter to continue recording. After the session, the Beaconite asked the attorney why she made her request, and the attorney — who flew here from Jamaica for the trial — responded that in her experience, reporters have to obtain advance permission to record proceedings. The Beaconite is thankful that the justice ruled in the favour of the media, and thinks everyone in the legal community should be in favour of reporters recording court proceedings. Listening back to recordings is often necessary for reporters to ensure the accuracy of their stories, especially with more complicated legal matters like Mr. Skelton-Cline’s trial. Given that the Beaconite often hears attorneys and others gripe about the media misreporting what goes on in court, he doesn’t understand how anyone could possibly be against the media recording legal proceedings.
No parking
A Beaconite has seen blocks, buckets and caution cones used to cordon parking spaces, but what she saw on Thursday takes the cake. Two large vacuum cleaners were used to block a parking space on Main Street. She found it very funny and hoped no one stole the cleaners or knocked them over.
Waboba
A Beaconite has discovered a new beachside hobby that he plans to devote a sizable portion of his life to: Waboba. For those unfamiliar, Waboba is short for WAter BOuncing BAll, an ingenious invention that was the result of 20-something years of hard work by a Swedish guy named Jan Von Heland. Mr. Von Heland’s odyssey began in the 1980s, when he noticed it was pretty cool that Frisbees occasionally skipped on water. “Why not design a ball that could do the same thing?” he thought. Fast-forward to 2005, and he’s the proud designer of the Waboba Ball, a shape-shifting toy of dark wizardry that can skip across the clear waters of Cane Garden Bay at high speeds. According to some scientific analysis from Technology Review, Waboba balls are soft enough to flatten upon their impact with the water, allowing them to aquaplane and give the appearance of bouncing when they regain shape. All the Beaconite knows is that he did not get bored after throwing it back and forth with friends for four hours straight last weekend. He may be 12 years late to the Waboba party, but he’s still ready to make a thundering entrance into the Waboba world.
Cancer free
A fair-skinned Beaconite is pleased to report that she does not have skin cancer. After two years of living under the tropical sun, and admittedly not always being fastidious about applying sunscreen, the Beaconite was starting to get a little worried about a few freckles. She decided to take advantage of her National Health Insurance plan and visit a dermatologist, who gave her a clean bill of health. However, the doctor said skin cancer is common in the territory, so the reporter would like to encourage everyone to go for an annual skin check. It only takes a few minutes, it’s completely painless, and thanks to NHI, it won’t even break your bank.
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