Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Perry Christie has reaffirmed the Government's commitment to regain majority control of the Bahamas Telecommunications Company, BTC. He made the statement during a press conference on Tuesday, July 31, 2012, in the committee room at the House of Assembly. Cable & Wireless Corporation has a 51 percent control of the local telecommunications company; the Government, 49 percent.

The Wall Street credit rating agency Moody's has questioned the Government's intention to re-nationalise BTC. But according to the Prime Minister it seemed unfair. "No representative of Moody's has spoken to me or raised any questions to me about my declared intention in representing the Government of The Bahamas to commence discussions with BTC with respect to acquiring the majority of interests of shares of BTC for Bahamians," he said.

On Monday, July 30, U.S. Chargé d'Affaires John Dinkelman met with Dr. Sophia Rolle, Associate Professor of Tourism Management in the Culinary and Hospitality Management Institute at The College of The Bahamas to discuss her recent participation in the U.S. State Department's International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) on June 11-29, 2012 with a focus on environmental education and eco-tourism on small island nations.

The three-week program gave Dr. Rolle a unique opportunity to travel to Washington D.C., San Francisco, California and Pensacola, Florida where she was given an opportunity to visit several research facilities and universities with a strong emphasis on marine based programs. She also engaged with key stakeholders and NGO's that have a focus on environmental education and conservation programs, especially efforts for marine tropical areas such as wet lands, mangroves, and coral reefs.

Scott Walker, Governor of the State of Wisconsin, visited The Islands Of The Bahamas booth, in the International Federal Pavilion at EAA AirVenture, during a brief stop at the mega aviation show, in Oshkosh, WI, the week of July 23 through 29th.

EAA AirVenture has been dubbed the world's largest aviation show, and with an estimated 500,000 plus attendees annually, the show is a major contributor to the area's economy. The International Federal Partnership (IFP), a group of some 12 Federal agencies from the U.S., Canada and The Bahamas, is among the vast spectrum of thousands of aviation entities, aircraft and displays that make up the show.

August 1st always bring out the excitement in spiny lobster lovers everywhere as the new season begins again. I, for one, have been working for a week now to figure out some combinations we will use for the menu at Flying Fish Modern Seafood. Sometimes working in a restaurant with a reputation for modern thoughtful food and presentations takes me away from the simplicity of a fantastic ingredient. You don't need much for an ingredient like lobster to shine.

So for the home cook, the best advice in preparation is keep it simple. Don't try too much and find yourself wondering where did the lobster go? Here's a few simple ways to make your lobster shine!

Twenty -Educators from public and private schools participated in the SMILE ( Science Math Integrated Learning Experience) at the beginning of July. The workshop focused on Bahamian Ecosystems and each Environmental Science Lesson incorporated a Math based activity.

The morning sessions incorporated ecosystem information and hands on creation of tools needed for the visits to the ecosystems. Educators made quadrants for measuring plant transects, butterfly houses and Insect nets for their Bug Safari and practiced bird identification skills. The morning classroom sessions were followed by afternoon field trips to the different ecosystems.

Agriculture and Marine Resources and Local Government Minister V. Alfred Gray urged vendors operating at Potter's Cay and Arawak Cay to pay their leases or face eviction. During a meeting with vendors on Monday, Mr Gray was also critical of the "dilapidated" conditions of stalls, especially at Potter's Cay.

He told vendors that if they were not prepared to properly conduct business, the opportunity will be given to others. "Generally speaking, most of you are in arrears in the amount of thousands of dollars in lease payment," Mr Gray told them.

More than 2,000 young people attending the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) Summer Youth Camps will dine on the generosity of Bank of The Bahamas. The donation -- gifts cards for a summer's lunches and snacks from Phil's Food Services -- was made during a presentation today at BOB's head office with representatives of all nine summer youth camps throughout New Providence.

"We're extremely grateful to have the support of Bank of The Bahamas, especially since the program has been extended from four weeks to six weeks this year," said camp coordinator Inspector Chrislyn Skippings. "Our goal this year is to provide positive activities in keeping with our POLICE 2012 policing plan and the bank's donation will help sustain the programs we're currently implementing for the children."

Nearly 40 young Bahamians received financial assistance for the upcoming school year from the Meyer Rassin Foundation Scholarship programme. The students are all pursuing higher education degrees in medicine or allied healthcare.

"We need you desperately," Doctors Hospital President Barry Rassin told the recipients and many of their parents at a reception and cheque presentation ceremony, "It's exciting to look around the room and see the faces of the future of healthcare in The Bahamas."

Grand Bahama Island featured late in the history of the Bahamas.

In 1792 the records show that there was a sale of 240 acres of land near the western end of Grand Bahama Island. By 1806 we have evidence that one Joseph Smith had a plantation at West End and by 1836 there was a recorded population of 370 on the island. Interesting reports from commissioners from here onwards talk of the 'boisterous sea along the south coast', 'injurious burning of the land', and the island has 'declined in importance ...' In fact even in these early days people had already started emigrating away from the island ...

Grand Bahama undoubtedly featured in the story of wrecking. The names Fortune Point, Silver Point, Gold Rock may all be trying to tell us something! For good measure a famous American Roman Catholic bishop was wrecked on the island late in the 19th century.

Executives of The Grand Bahama Port Authority, Limited (GBPA) took a brief moment to acknowledge acts of bravery and compassion exhibited by Bahamian native, Mr. Devaughn Gow while assisting injured tourist, Mrs. Barbara Stainbrook following a recent jet ski accident.

"Far too often we see negative acts toward tourist headlining in the media but, not enough positive ones," explained GBPA Vice Chairman, Miss Sarah St. George, as she addressed a small group gathered to honour Mr. Gow. "These negative stories do not accurately reflect the friendly and courteous people of The Bahamas," she said.

LRA OBB, Limited ("LRA") (owner of the Old Bahama Bay Resort & Marina) and Crave Real Estate (advisors to "LRA") are pleased to announce a new agreement with the condominium owners at Old Bahama Bay to operate the hotel and marina at the property.

A new company, Island Ventures Resort & Club, Ltd. ("IVRC"), has been formed to undertake these responsibilities. Mr. James Culmer of West End has been appointed General Manager, and Ms. Jackie Carroll of Freeport has been appointed Resort Manager. Advisory services will be provided by Management Services, LLC ("MSLLC"), a Florida based hospitality consulting company whose principals were involved in opening and operating Old Bahama Bay from 2001 to 2007.

This year, the Kamalamee Honours will celebrate its launch by selecting ten extraordinary individuals whose collective profession has contributed significantly to the cultural and economic growth of our island and country.

Under the patronage of their Excellencies Sir Arthur Foulkes & Lady Foulkes the annual Honors Ceremony will become the highlight of Grand Bahama's cultural year, as the 2012 Honourees will be saluted by great performers from around The Bahamas.

Minister for Grand Bahama, the Hon. Dr. Michael Darville said Friday that a part of his ministry's mandate is the promotion of agricultural development in Grand Bahama. He also unveiled some of his ministry's plans for attracting young people to the agricultural field.

He said his ministry is about creating employment and entrepreneurial opportunities for all residents of Grand Bahama, and that he is excited about the Government's plans that are clearly outlined in the Charter for Governance and the synergistic working relationship that his ministry has developed with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation.

While we wish that more people would consider adopting a shelter dog or puppy, we realize there are some folks who simply will not consider adoption and must have a "purebred dog" for one reason or another. So, what qualifies a dog as "purebred"? This is the big question that should be more carefully considered and researched by anyone thinking of buying a puppy of any breed. (Can we please abolish the meaningless term "full breed" dog while we're on the subject?)

In the last six months the HSGB has had an alarming number of so called "purebred puppies" brought to our vet clinic with parvovirus, and other potentially fatal but preventable medical conditions. These puppies include "pit bulls" (which is not actually a recognized breed), German Shepherd Dogs (which is the correct name for that breed, not "shepherd", not "German Shepherd" and certainly not "K9"), Shih Tzus, and Chihuahuas.

August 2nd to 4th, the One Eleuthera Foundation (1E), Cancer Society of Eleuthera (CSE), Family Medicine Center (FMC) and other partners, will make history as they host Eleuthera's first ever Health and Wellness Symposium with the guiding theme The Pathway to Wellness, Reversing the trends.

The Pathway to Wellness commences with a welcome reception at 6:30pm Thursday, August 2nd and ends on Saturday with the Fun, Run Walk for the Cure which begins at 6:00am. A key component of the weekend is the facilitation of a high level roundtable discussion and solutions-based forum with strategic partners, medical professionals, and stakeholders from around the Bahamas, as well as international delegates.

Prime Minister Perry Christie toured the site of the new Cove Eleuthera Resort set to open in November on the island of Eleuthera. New Orleans entrepreneur and French Quarter hotelier Sidney D. Torres, IV recently purchased the 32 acre ocean front property with plans to return the resort to its position at the top of the list of the world's best secret island getaways.

Accompanied by Tourism Minister Obie Wilchcombe and Investment Minister Khaalis Rolle, the Prime Minister made it very clear that the government is determined to turn the Bahamian economy around and that The Bahamas is open for business and is investor friendly. "If you are frustrated, we are going to remove your frustration. We want to make things happen quickly in The Bahamas. This is an example of making things happen quickly in The Bahamas" said Prime Minister Christie.

The White Wedding gown is a long time staple for the traditional weddings, however, white, was not always the colour brides wore for weddings, in fact brides before 1840 wore the colour of their choice. When Queen Victoria wore a white wedding dress during her wedding to her cousin Albert of Saxe - Coburg, wedding fashionista's took note and slowly white became the statement for the royals. This white wedding trend was solidified by Coco Chanel introduction of the short white wedding dress in the 1920's. The traditional white was honoured when, the short wedding gown was introduced by this fashion trendsetter.

In those days brides were practical, sewing their own wedding dresses, using old material from dresses already owned or borrowing a dress from a sibling or friend. Dying the dress after the wedding was the norm and very popular. Money was often short and the practice of the royals of wearing this dress only once was not a practice a basic bride could mimic.

The deadline is near for submissions for local filmmakers interested in participating in the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival (FLIFF) on Location. The deadline for submissions for the High School, College, Open Bahamian Short and Open Bahamian Feature is 5:00 p.m., Friday, August 3rd, 2012.

The Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival will feature an expanded film competition while on location at Grand Bahama Island, October 25 - 28. Organizers have called for original films nationwide for competition in four categories. "We have received submissions in each of the categories" said Senior Manager, Film Development, Donna Mackey. Following are the categories and guidelines for submissions:

On July 24th, 2012 students of the RBC Summer Arts Workshop visited the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas (NAGB). The visit to NAGB enhanced the ongoing partnership between RBC and the arts community.

"We are now in the 31st year of the summer arts workshop and every year we strive to enhance the program" said Ms. Tanya McCartney, Managing Director of RBC Finco. Ms. McCartney continued "we felt that it was important to have the students visit the National Art Gallery so they could see the work of local artists and be inspired by them."

Participants in the Ministry of Youth, Sports & Culture's Theatre Camp perform during a show held at the National Centre for the Performing Arts on Thursday, July 26.

The campers displayed their newly acquired skills in a production entitled "Just Dance". The piece was written by Carlene Nixon based on stories relayed by children of the inner city and it is being directed by Rowena Poitier who was assisted by the Camp Director, Terez Davis.

(BIS Photo/Patrick Hanna).

By popular demand the Bahamas International Film Festival (BIFF) non-profit organization will be hosting the bi-annual fundraiser "Big Screen Art Scene" on Saturday, September 1st at 6:00pm. This spectacular event will be on board the 135 foot Carrousel Yacht and ventures deep into the Bahamian arts and culture scene by building strong relationships with a wide variety of local artists.

The Big Screen Art Scene aims to modernize the art auction by creating an environment to interact and engage in dialogue with and about the artists. The unique event will be providing the artists with a platform to showcase and emphasis their work through a multimedia plan by projecting images on the BIG SCREEN throughout the event.

There is less than a week left before the start of the G.B.C.C. 6th Annual Road Cycling Championships. The event is scheduled for Monday, August 6th, 2012, at 8:30am on the Grand Bahama Highway near the airport round-a-bout.

Registration for the event begins at 7:30am. The Junior and Novice Adult race begins at 8:30am. The Cat 1, 2 & 3 events are set for a tentative start time of 9:15am.

Minister of Youth Sports & Culture, Hon. Daniel Johnson met with Sports Ministers and senior officials from 43 Commonwealth nations in London on July 25 for the 6th Commonwealth Sports Ministers Meeting. The meeting was chaired by Hugh Robertson, Minister for Sport and the Olympics for the United Kingdom.

As the city of London welcomed thousands of athletes, officials and spectator's focus was shifted from elite athletics and international competition, to the important contribution sport and physical activity can make to development efforts across the Commonwealth.

Just when we thought the current political landscape in The Bahamas could not immediately become more rife with notable (and infamous) precedents, the PLP government has announced it is now a born-again believer in equal rights for Bahamian women. And to put works to this new faith, it says it plans to bring a referendum to remove gender discrimination from the Constitution as it pertains to a Bahamian woman passing her citizenship onto her child.

Now lest we forget, this is the same Constitutional amendment Prime Minister Perry Christie and the PLP while in Opposition told the Bahamian people to vote "no" to in 2002 (even though he and his colleagues had already voted "yes" to the same in Parliament.)