The Lions Club in New York has honored Vincentian community advocate Ava George, bestowing on her the Alexander T. Wells Distinguished Service Award for dedicated humanitarian service.

George, a chaplain of the Brooklyn Kings County Lions Club, received the award at the club’s recent meeting at Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center in Brooklyn.

“I was really pleased and proud when I was called to receive the award,” said George, a Girls High School and St. Vincent Technical College alumna, she told media here.

“I always wanted to help people in the community, and this award suggests that I have succeeded,” she added. “I am sincerely honored by this recognition and look forward to continually working in the community.”

The Alexander T. Wells Distinguish Service Award is named for Alexander T. Wells, the 2nd International President of Lions Clubs International from Multiple-20 New York State and Bermuda, and Long Island City, Queens, New York.

Deborah Harrison, president of the Lions District 20-K1 Foundation, told George, in a letter accompanying the award, that her organization is able to furnish grants through “the generous support of recipients like you.”

“You should take pride in knowing you will impact so many lives, both in your immediate community, as well as across Brooklyn and Queens,” Harrison said.

George, who migrated to New York in 1986, began working with New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) three years later. This year represents 27 years since working with DEP.

She has been a shop steward for her union, Community Workers of America Local 1180, for many years, and serves on several committees.

The St. Vincent and the Grenadines Community College will once again be offering a twelve week Level 1 Mandarin course to the general public.

The course is scheduled to commence on Wednesday February 3rd, and aims to teach students the basic concepts of Mandarin; including pronunciation, Chinese characters, speaking, listening, reading and writing.

Students will have the opportunity to practice using the language in some common real-life situations and will also be exposed to Taiwan and Chinese culture.

At the end of the course, students should be able to introduce themselves and express themselves in simple sentences in Mandarin.

The course will be held on Wednesdays from 5:00pm – 7:00pm at the Villa Campus of the Community College.

The Application fee is EC$100 and the deadline for the submission of applications is Friday January 22nd, 2016.

The funeral service for the late Patrick McIntosh, Dean of the St. George’s Cathedral, will take place Friday 15th January at the Victoria Park.

The funeral service was initially planned for the Church of the Ascension at Sion Hill.

But Bishop of the Windward Islands, Reverend C Leopold Friday said the venue had to be changed “due to certain constraints,” according to a report in the Tuesday January 12th, 2016 edition of the Midweek Searchlight newspaper.

The funeral service on Friday will begin at 2:00pm.

Dean McIntosh died on January 5th at age 68.

He had been a priest for the last 38 years and served in the parishes of St. James, Layou; Holy Trinity, Georgetown; St. George and St. Andrew, and as Dean of St. George’s among other offices in the church.

The Barrouallie Secondary School (BSS), celebrated 45 years as an educational institution on Monday the 11th of January. The school was founded on the 11th of January 1971, its inaugural principal was Mr. George Bailey who served from 1971 to 1978. In commemorating this milestone, the principal, staff, students and past students held a thanksgiving church service at the St. Patrick Anglican Church in Barrouallie.

Seven members of the Royal St.Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force celebrated a milestone achievement on Sunday, January 10th, 2016, when they marked their 30th anniversary as law enforcement officers.

The celebrants who were enlisted on January 10th, 1986, are Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), Joel James, second in charge of Fire Department; Inspectors of Police, Calvin Glasgow and Daniel Hall; Station Sergeant of Police, Patricia Williams; Sergeant of Police, Ashley Francis; and Corporals of Police, Tosby Lewis and Dornette Alexander.

ASP James said: “As the highest ranking officer of the remaining batch, I feel elated and can speak for my other colleagues in achieving such an ineffable milestone.

I was the last person to be promoted from my course, but never stopped working hard. Over the years, we have shown determination as a group to go on, with our goals in sight.” Thirty-five recruits commenced the police training course in 1986.

The Royal St.Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force congratulates the officers on their achievement.

The first World Pediatric Project Mission to St Vincent and the Grenadines for 2016 was hailed by local Chief Development Officer Simon Carey as a complete success.

Two doctors (Dr Tae Kim and Dr Jeffrey Lukish) accompanied by nurses Sheree Dyer and Marybeth Pule, and were ably assisted by local medical professionals, provided free assessments to 32 youngsters, including one child from Grenada and another from Antigua, this past Sunday at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital.

Ten of these children, including the Grenadian, underwent surgeries related to various medical complications, also free of cost, compliments WPP.

Issues related to umbilical hernias, circumcisions, hirschsprung disease, and othe ailments were dealt with the team while here.

Carey indicated that the surgeries were a success, and that the children were expected to recover fully, and should be on their way to living healthier lives.

Carey also made the call for parents and businesses alike to join the “WPP Movement,” by identifying children from newborn to 21 years of age, who would benefit from the services provided by the WPP, and supporting the various that the WPP would be undertaking this year and beyond.

Eight more medical missions are scheduled to visit here over the course of the year, to deal with complications related to cardiology, urology, neurosurgery, orthopedic scoliosis, general orthopedics, physical therapy and plastic surgery.

Prison authorities here are taking steps to ensure that those who are incarcerated at prison facilities across the country are rehabilitated and prepared to function in the society when they are released.

The country’s prison population now stands at 431 inmates.Superintendent of Prisons acting Brenton Charles says of the 431 inmates 203 are being housed at the Belle Isle prison facility.

He said 221 males are at Kingstown and 7 females in custody at Her Majesty’s Prison in Kingstown as well.

Charles says that a special provision was made for the females to be housed in Kingstown due to conditions at the Fort Charlotte facility.

He says the youngest Prisoner is a 12 year old female and the youngest male 16 years old, with other prisoners in there sixties, and seventies in lock up.

Charles said at the moment only 1 prisoner is on death row, he said they have been trying their best to institute programs to help rehabilitate prisoners to transition easier back into society.

Programs include, CCSL second chance programme offered by CXC, welding along with clothing and textile.

A special meeting to officially launch the Vincentian cultural association in the diaspora in the United States will be organized by the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Diaspora Committee of New York, Inc.
This meeting will be held Saturday, January 30, 2016 at The Friends of Crown Heights Educational Center, Inc., at 671 Prospect Place in Brooklyn, New York from 1pm-8pm.

The objectives of the meeting are as follows:
• To adopt the constitution of the cultural association
• To elect an Executive Committee
• To discuss a programme of activities for 2016

Reports state that police on Monday removed placards from NDP protesters who turned up outside the financial complex where prime minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves’ office is located.
According to one of the protesters, Luzette King, Monday was the 29th day in which the protesters were staging their protest against what she termed the rigged elections and that the government was using the Public Order Act to stop protesters.

Leader of the Opposition Arnhim Eustace in an Interview with WINNFM St Kitts, says that records held at the recently burnt section of the Public Works Compound in Arnos Vale may have been required as evidence in an upcoming court case brought by the opposition alleging election fraud.

Eustace says the documents destroyed by the fire were records of local residents who had received donations of the materials stored at the warehouse prior to last month’s general election.”What we want to know is why that particular area was burnt.  Who has anything to lose?  Where were the documents associated with all those goods that were given away, were those documents stored there?  And who would benefit if they were destroyed?” he queried.

Eustace is rejecting suggestions that his New Democratic Party may have been involved in the Thursday fire that destroyed a government Public Works facility and building material stored there. Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves at a news conference Thursday, appeared to be linking opposition protests over the results of the December 9 general election to the fire.

Opposition Leader Eustace alleges that some of the material stored at the compound had been used by the government in the recent election campaign to bribe voters. “In that compound they normally stored things like lumber and galvanize and steel belonging to government, and would have been one of the main areas where the lumber and galvanize that they gave out during the elections, some 13 to 14 million dollars would have been stored in that area,” Eustace told WINN FM.

He contends that the facility was “associated with politics in that sense because you would see trucks lined up there early in the mornings before the elections just taking materials to various people in the countryside who support the government”.

According to the opposition leader this was government property being used for purely political purposes. He says the ruling party has greater reason to have wanted the Public Works building razed to the ground.

Written from sourced news

Glen Beache, CEO of St. Vincent and The Grenadines Tourism Authority,said that the oft-delayed Argyle International Airport project, which would represent the destination’s sixth airport and first international airport, is expected to be completed no later than March this year .

Beache said that  the airport is considered a “game-changer” for the island since it will now be able to accommodate the larger commercial planes that existing St. Vincent and The Grenadines airports could not. Whereas the destination is accustomed to accommodating about 50 tourists per plane, the new airport will allow for planes of up to 150-200 passengers.

The International Airport Development Company, (IADC) is now recruiting suitably qualified persons to operate and manage the Argyle International Airport,Public Relations Officer at the IADC, Jennifer Richardson says the Company has published a total of 51 positions.

Miss Richardson is urging interested persons to send their applications early for the various posts available at the International Airport.

Meanwhile Beache told Travel Agent a Canadian developer is looking to break ground on three new hotels on St. Vincent and The Grenadines. According to Beache, there will be a three-star hotel, a four-star hotel and a “six-star” property all on the same grounds. Each hotel will be 200 rooms each, he says.