Opposition Free National Movement Senators receive their Instruments of Appointment from Governor General Sir Arthur Foulkes during an Appointment Ceremony at Government House on Wednesday, May 16.

Pictured from left: Senator Thomas Desmond Bannister, Hubert A. Minnis, Leader of the Opposition; Sir Arthur; Senator Heather Hunt; Senator Zhivargo Laing; and Senator James Kwasi Thompson.

The Cabinet Office announced Friday that Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. Perry G. Christie, has advised His Excellency the Governor-General to complete the formation of the new cabinet with the following additional ministerial appointments:

- HON. FREDERICK A. MITCHELL - MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS and IMMIGRATION
- HON. V. ALFRED GRAY - MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, MARINE RESOURCES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT
- HON. SHANE GIBSON - MINISTER OF LABOUR AND NATIONAL INSURANCE
- HON. GLENYS HANNA MARTIN - MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND AVIATION

The Government of The Bahamas will introduce a National Firearms Control Strategy to counter the proliferation of illegal firearms within the country, Minister of National Security Dr. the Hon. Bernard B.J. Nottage said Monday.

Dr. Nottage said violence associated with the use of those firearms will be reduced as a result of the Strategy. Dr. Nottage said the National Strategy, along with an improved gun registry, the marking and tracing of weapons, improved interdiction of firearms at Bahamian ports of entry and the "regular destruction" of obsolete and confiscated firearms, are all part of a larger plan aimed at reducing illegal gun trafficking and the attendant violence it brings.

Natalie Warne, an American Film-maker and inspirational speaker, encouraged students in The Bahamas to work to make a change in the world at a talk at the Rainforest Theater on April 27th.

About 150 students and parents gathered to listen to Natalie tell the story of her decision as a 17-year-old student to join the Invisible Children Organization. Her decision changed the direction of her life and started her on a journey that would take her across America and to Africa and, eventually, here to The Bahamas.

Adult literacy non profit organization Project Read Bahamas recently hosted a steakout raising over $5,000 towards the ongoing efforts of reducing adult illiteracy in the Bahamas.

Volunteers and students are always accepted, interested persons can telephone 394-2426.

The Sandals Foundation donated some much-needed supplies to D.W. Davis Jr High School's Family and Consumer Sciences Department, just in time for the students to prepare for the practical side of their Bahamas Junior Certificate exams (BJC).

Sandals Royal Bahamian's Executive Sous Chef Seanette Cooper presented the Sandals Foundation's donation which included aprons, vegetable peelers, spices, table cloths and much more. D.W. Davis Vice- Principal Sterling McPhee said that the school was very grateful for the donation.

Cia Monet Fashions, an online shopping company run by Patricia Chatti held the successful Beauties @ Brunch on May 6th at Compass Point. The idyllic setting, beautiful models, and fabulous styles presented by Cia Monet were a hit all round!

The event was well attended and under the patronage of Mrs. Sandra Dean Patterson of the Bahamas Crisis Center, which is celebrating 30 years of service to the Bahamian People. Part proceeds of the event went to support the Center

Local models took the runway wearing designer and accessory couture pieces from Cia Monet which include Herve Leger, Emilio Pucci, Gucci and more. Each fashion season: spring, summer-swimsuits, fall and winter, including casual, resort, career and social wear will be presented. Models were all wearing jewelry by Fusion (Judy Darville & Tepaporn Jin Schmid).

Bishop Michael Eldon School, which has long been noted for its academic and athletic achievement, will reveal its artistic side in "Art of Warriors" - a unique showcase of tremendously talented young artists.

"Art of Warriors" - scheduled for May 19, 2012, 7pm, at the Canal House of Pelican Bay Hotel - will showcase the artistic talents of students of both the primary and secondary departments of Bishop Michael Eldon School. The students all had the opportunity to submit original pieces of art utilizing various mediums from digital art and photography to charcoals, watercolours and acrylics. The artwork will be reviewed and judged by guest artists Mrs. Chantal Bethel, Dr. Kevin Bethel and Mrs. Del Foxton.

New robotic blasting is now being used at the Grand Bahama Shipyard to expedite the work at the yard in Freeport. Training began a few weeks ago, teaching Bahamians to drive the highly technical environmental robot used for hull stripping.

Blaster and Painter Jarvis Pinder, an 11-year employee and Marvin Taylor a 4-year employee, are pictured training on the newest equipment being utilized at the world's second largest ship repair yard in the Americas. "The new robotic blasting units make our work safer, easier, more efficient, and it goes much quicker than traditional blasting," said Pinder.

The Humane Society of Grand Bahama has joined forces with the Lucaya International School to kick off a Spare Change Campaign to help raise funds for Neem Trees. Planting Neem Trees on the shelter grounds will give the dogs much needed shade and they are a natural flea and tick repellent.

If you have a tub of spare change at home please send it in with your child so they can put it in their class rooms donation bucket or if you do not have children at the school and would like to help with the campaign please contact bevdobinson@aol.com and we would be happy to come and collect your spare change.

Members of the Keep Grand Clean Committee (KGBC) were thrilled with last month's 'Earth Day' efforts amongst the local community. According to KGBC Chairperson, Nakira Wilchcombe, "this year's theme, 'Mobilizing the Earth' was embraced locally by the concept of 'Mobilizing Grand Bahama' to become active rather than inactive."

The 'Earth Day' celebrations officially kicked off on April 21st with an extensive coastal clean-up of the William's Town Beach, from east to west. Volunteers were out in full force, including Royal Bank and Finco, Ministry of Tourism, Royal Bahamas Police Force, Royal Bahamas Defence Force and its Rangers, residents, and Keep Grand Bahama Clean Committee Members.

Rotary Club of Lucaya - May 8, 2012

Although a new government will be formed in the Bahamas, we realize that the challenges that face the Bahamas and in particular Grand Bahama, are still prominent. On this island we have an economic and social crisis that is escalating. It is important to note that this crisis may not be to the extreme levels that we see in other nations, and we are considered nominal in comparison to the population of most of our neighboring Caribbean nations. Therefore, the unification of citizens within this country is conceivable in an effort to eliminate the economic and social ills of Grand Bahama.

The Bahamas National Trust and Audubon have teamed up to make things better for shorebirds in The Bahamas.

15 Andros students from Fresh Creek Primary and Central Andros High participated in a Shorebird Immersion Camp at FORFAR Field Station facilitated by Director of Education, Portia Sweeting, Science Officer, Predensa Moore and BNT Warden Wavell Hanna.

Farmer's Cay All Age School student, Kenya Rolle, recites a poem by James Catalyn, during the recent E. Clement Bethel National Arts Festival Adjudications on the small island in The Exumas.

(BIS Photo / Eric Rose)

Well wishers gathered in Bullocks Harbour, Berry Islands and Alice Town, Bimini this past week as BTC officially activated 4G services, unleashing faster speeds on all wireless devices and making it possible for customers to tap into better services and more entertainment on their mobile devices.

According to Jerome Sawyer, Senior Manager for Public Relations, bringing 4G to the northern islands will boost business and visitor satisfaction as well as aiding education.

Sake seems to be unilaterally known as "rice wine", but technically, in Japanese, sake means alcoholic beverage. So, is sake a beer or a wine?

At Flying Fish, we have a 4-course prix fixe menu that has the option of "wine pairing". This means that we tailor a pairing menu according to the menu that you choose for yourself. Sometimes the first and last course are something other than wine, depending on the best pairing for the chosen dish is. A few options from our first course section are paired with sake.

It's actually neither, but if you had to categorize it, it is closer to beer than it is to wine based on its method of production. According to Sommelier Matthew Citriglia, "sake is not a wine, nor is it a beer, although it is similar to beer in the fact that both are fermented from a type of grain.

Excitement meets stress, hearts race, cameras roll. It's the most daring, critical hour of the BTC Starmaker reality series, the Wild Card Show, giving two of those voted off in the past a final chance to re-claim a spot among 10 finalists in the competition of The Bahamas' best-watched reality show.

It's Episode 7 of the 8-week long reality series sponsored by BTC and contestants are being schooled on all things Blackberry by guest speaker Jared Fisher of Research in Motion - the company that brings you Blackberry.

It was a night of Mystical Wonders, beauty and elegance, as the seven Miss Grand Bahama 2012 contestants displayed confidence, personality, good posture, grace and maturity in there evening gowns this past weekend at an event sponsored by the Treasure Bay Casino on May 12th, 2012.

The contestants chose there gowns wisely in hopes to best reflect their personality in colours that they love. The contestants sense of style was maturely executed and each gown worn gave ample leg room allowing the girls to move freely, yet gently hugged their upper torsos to show off their fit physiques.

Angelique Sabrina and her new single "Pull Up" are being premiered and launched on MTV Buzzworthy.

Her newest song "Pull Up", which is not yet released, is the song that she will be producing a video for in Los Angeles in a couple of weeks.

She is asking viewers who wish to be in the video to submit a response video to her dance which she has put up on YouTube.

A poverty/rich credo from the early 2000's:

The haves
the have nots
and ... the have yachts
In the market don't fret
to buy, sell, hold or bet
the colour of quiescence is gold
but red for 'iffy' equities unsold

That was all happening in the early 2000's. But, since the 2008 crash more sober epithets are now in vogue. This was an explanation of what was happening from the website Marketwatch:

Legacy Baseball results from Saturday May 12th

TEE BALL
Bellevue Bluejays defeated the Easy Dental Care Braves 15-4. Kendick Smith, Noah Saravia & Jaymar Saunders each scored 2 runs off 3 hits for the Bluejays. Reagan Charlton went 1-3 and scored 1 run for the Braves.

The BTC Red Sox outscored the GBPA Dodgers 10-5. Noah Lyons and Raynard Gibson both scored 2 runs and had 2 hits for the Red Sox.

Harbour Island, known locally as 'Briland,' is the next venue for the 2012 Bahamas Billfish Championship series. The picturesque island off of the extreme northern tip of Eleuthera is famous for its pink sand beaches, quaint English style architecture, great restaurants and, for BBC anglers, excellent blue marlin fishing.

Good reports of marlin catches have been coming in from Harbour Island. Most recently, Capt. Rich Helmuth aboard the Wani Kanati reports, "Our charters either caught or had shots just about every day we fished in the past three weeks. Yesterday (Friday) we marlin fished for two hours and caught 1 of 2." Best of all, the action has been close-by.

"POWER CORRUPTS"

"Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely"

Hubert A. Ingraham, former Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas was an Angry, Arrogant and Autocratic Individual who surrounded himself and was propped up by parliamentary and professional wimps, and political sycophants.

VELL MUDDOES!! Thanks to this new PLP government which claims they "Believe in Bahamians" well known, and loved radio personality, 'Immediate Response' Chrissy Love axed.

We are hearing more stories all the way from Freeport and we want some answers!