Avoiding Ebola
A Beaconite recently visited her home country, Nigeria, which on Monday was declared Ebola-free by the World Health Organisation. During her vacation in the West African country, she saw firsthand the ways in which the deadly virus was prevented.
Upon arrival and departure at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, she noted that all passengers were carefully screened. Even before checking in luggage, passengers had to answer health questions and have their temperatures checked. Residents were also screened in other places they visited, included churches, schools, banks and even nightclubs. However, after she arrived in St. Maarten, she was almost sent back home after LIAT refused to board her for the Virgin Islands. Company personnel at first claimed that there was a ban on all passengers travelling from West Africa and that the medical stamp of approval on her boarding pass was inadequate. Nearly an hour later, however, she was allowed to board, and she arrived home in the VI safely.
Sing it loud
A reporter was impressed by the behaviour of Virgin Islands high school girls at a conference recently. They were attentive through a series of speakers, participated in the discussions, were generally respectful, and followed the programme of the day. Many of the girls did break with the schedule, however, during the territorial song. Having been encouraged to sing along, when the song was cut off after the first verse and chorus, many of them continued singing. The reporter and the other adults were treated to a lovely a cappella rendition of the second verse, complete with church-style harmonies. It was the best form of teen rebellion the Beaconite can think of.
Ebola bucket
In September, Beacon Editor Freeman Rogers reported in his weekly humour column “Dateline: Paradise” that Virgin Islands government ministers had adapted a popular fundraiser, the “ice bucket challenge,” to raise money for capital projects. The satirical “news” reported in the column was, as it often is, a hoax. Officials didn’t really plan a “Trash Bucket Challenge” to fund a new scrubber for the Pockwood Pond incinerator or a “Sewage Bucket Challenge” to fund long delayed works in East End/Long Look. But during a recent press briefing at the United States Department of State, a reporter asked if the US government was planning a similar initiative to raise money to stop the growing outbreak of the Ebola virus. The spokeswoman replied that instead the US is donating directly and helping to coordinate the global response to the spreading disease. Perhaps she realised that the concept of an “Ebola Bucket Challenge” likely wouldn’t be as catchy as the idea of dumping a load of ice water over one’s head.
Court problems
A Beaconite regularly writes about problems in Magistrates’ Court that cause cases to drag on for months, but Friday was a particularly exasperating day as far as gaffes are concerned. First came the matter of two men who were both accused of assault occasioning bodily harm – against each other. “There can’t be a cross complaint,” Magistrate Ayanna Baptiste-DaBreo informed the Crown, explaining that the men would have to have separate trials because the prosecution couldn’t take evidence from both of them as the virtual complainants — especially if they gave different accounts of the incident. That matter was moved to Nov. 28, when the two men are scheduled to stand in court separately to plea to their charges. The Crown then called to the stand Isaiah Frett, who is charged with being armed with an offensive weapon. However, it took about an hour to figure out the exact charge against Mr. Frett, because apparently there is an Asaiah Frett who faces charges of assaulting a police officer, resisting arrest, indecent language, obstructing police, and criminal damage. Those latter charges were being read to Mr. Frett when Crown Counsel Herbert Potter informed the magistrate that the wrong counts were being read. Apparently, someone had given Ms. Baptiste-DaBreo the wrong file. The judge then asked Mr. Frett to spell his name, and he spelled it with an “I.” The case was nevertheless also adjourned to Nov. 28, presumably to ensure that the correct charges are put to the man. Finally, the Beaconite got a kick out of an unrelated incident. When a defendant outside told a court guard she left her earring in the prison box, the guard went to check. She lifted a cloth attached to the inside of the box’s front wall, only to find a dead lizard. The guard gave a shout and leapt back towards the door. Everyone in the courtroom laughed, but the Beaconite had a nervous thought minutes later: If the guard is terrified of a tiny lizard, how can she be expected to handle a prisoner who becomes violent?
{fcomment}