Foul play ruled out in Exell death

Foul play has been ruled out in the death of Alfred Franklin Exell, a Police spokesperson said yesterday.

Mr. Exell, 49, was found dead near the Pembroke Community Centre last Saturday morning by a member of the public.

A Police spokesperson said an autopsy was carried out which ruled out foul play. The spokesperson would not comment on the cause of death, however.

Cavendish Road reduced to one lane today

One lane of Cavendish Road will be closed to traffic this morning as Belco carries out repairs.

The road will be closed between Shelton Road and Top of the Lane as crews fix a fault in an underground transmission cable, said Belco spokesperson Linda Smith.

The work began yesterday afternoon and Ms Smith said the work is expected to be completed by this afternoon. There are traffic lights set up on the road but Ms Smith said she advised a detour if possible.

Senate set for brief session

A law which will impose a maximum fine of $200 for not wearing seatbelts is expected to be passed by Senators today.

Upper House legislators are expected to meet only briefly as just two bills are scheduled for debate.

Besides the Traffic Offences (Penalties) Amendment Act 2004, which allows for ticketing people who drive without seatbelts, Senators will also consider a bill updating the Maritime Shipping Act.

Both bills passed the House of Assembly with little debate.

The seatbelt penalties law closes a loophole which made it unlikely that Police would ticket violators. Only those who plead innocent and are later found to be guilty in a court of law will face the maximum fine.

Those who plead guilty to the offence will be subject to a $50 fine.

Once passed by the Senate, the law will be sent to the Governor for his signature after which it will take immediate effect.

Think tank holds second lectures tomorrow

Lectures on the impact of colonialism in the Caribbean and the protection of indigenous people will be held tomorrow night at the Bermuda College.

Dr. Waldaba Stewart, a lecturer on Caribbean history, will speak on "A Comparative Study of the Impact of Colonialism in the Caribbean".

And Dr. Esmaralda Brown, of the UN Committee on Indigenous people, will follow with a lecture on "The Protection of Indigenous People".

The lecture is the second of a three-part lecture series organised by the Foundation for Bermuda Studies. Sir John Vereker and Brian Smith spoke at the first lecture which was held on May 20.

"We are extremely fortunate that we have been able to maintain the high calibre of lecturers for this series," said organiser Linda Milligan-Whyte.

"We are proud that we have responded to the call for debate on the issue of nationhood in a world where so many peoples have lost their identity and sense of purpose."

The foundation hopes the lecture series will generate healthy debate on the status of Bermuda's constitution by offering different perspectives and learning about other countries' colonial experiences and histories of constitutional development.

The lecture will be held in the North Hall at The Bermuda College at 7.30 p.m. It is open to the public free of charge.

Water shortage looms as Govt. restricts operations

A severe shortage in rainfall has prompted the Ministry of Works and Engineering to restrict access to the Government water supply to daylight hours.

The move by Minister Ashfield DeVent comes after the reservoir at Prospect ran dry - forcing the closure of outlets for truckers at the Frog Lane facility at 7.30 p.m. on May 28, and re-opening at 7.30 a.m. on May 30 to allow the supply to build up.

With abstraction from the underground well fields at maximum capacity the Ministry said in a press release yesterday, water treatment plants have been operating normally and reservoir levels have been restored.

The two trucker's outlets' hours of operation have been restricted to 7.30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Frog Lane and 10 a.m to 7.30 p.m. at Port Royal.

The Ministry apologies for the inconvenience and has also asked residents to co-operate by conserving water, minimising wastage and not ordering any more water than is necessary.

Trial date set for having knife

A 26-year-old man who admitted to possessing drugs near a nursery school will go to trial next month for allegedly also being in possession of a knife at the time.

DeVarius Dent, of Pembroke, pleaded guilty in Magistrates' Court yesterday for possessing 0.37 grams of cannabis resin in an increased penalty zone on January 16 of this year.

But Vent denied a second charge of possessing a prohibited weapon - a knife.

Dent told Acting Senior Magistrate William Francis, it was his "work knife" while pleading not guilty.

The case will go to trial on June 22. Dent was released on $500 bail.

Stiff fine for impaired driving

A Warwick man was taken off the road and fined $1,000 yesterday after he was caught driving with over twice the legal limit of alcohol in his blood.

Shannon Smith, 24, pleaded guilty in Magistrates' Court to driving while impaired by alcohol on December 14, 2003.

Smith was stopped in Sandys Parish by Police officers at 6.45 p.m. after he was observed overtaking traffic at a high rate of speed.

A blood analysis was taken and he was found to have 171 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood. The legal limit is 80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood.

Acting Senior Magistrate William Francis fined Smith $1,000 and disqualified him from driving for 12 months.

Busy weekend for Police

Police arrested 16 men and one woman for a variety of offences over the weekend.

Those arrested ranged in age from 18 to 29 years.

Four men were arrested on outstanding warrants while seven others were arrested for suspicion of possessing a controlled drug.

One man was arrested for obstruction of officers in the execution of their duty, one under suspicion of giving a false name and another man was arrested for obstruction and perverting the course of justice.

There was also one arrest of a man for being drunk and incapable. One woman was arrested for suspicion of possessing a controlled drug.

Helping agencies boost ties

Local helping agencies met last week to begin developing new alliances and a policy for outcome-based evaluation of their programmes.

The new Inter-Agency Committee (IAC) they formed is dedicated to fostering alliances between human services agencies and to improving the quality of care offered to children and families.

Peter Carey of the Family Learning Centre said more than 100 human service providers were invited to attend the meetings.

One of the aims was to set a policy for the evaluation of different programmes.

The meetings were also intended to provide information about success rates to donors and the wider community.

"It's about improving the services and coordinating the services which are already out there," said Mr. Carey.

"Everyone is in agreement that, at the moment, we have a lot of social challenges. Everyone has an opinion about solutions. But, with outcome management, we can clearly define the problem and the needs which can be addressed to find solutions."

All organisations including clubs, educators and community leaders have been invited to attend the next IAC general meeting on June 10.

Representatives from the Ministry of Health and Social Services are also due to attend the event.

Dr. Julie Dunstan is expected to present a community needs assessment study and Jeff Bormaster of the Child Welfare League of America will provide a full day introduction to quality improvement and outcomes management.

Family Learning Centre re-brands

The Family Learning Centre has rebranded to dispel any confusion about the services they provide.

"We changed our name to the Family Centre so people can understand very specifically what we do," said executive director Martha Dismont.

The name change becomes official on Friday and the centre will also use the tagline 'Where Family Comes First'.

Ms Dismont said the Centre helps to teach families how to move away from danger and toward stability but the services are therapeutic rather than academically based.

Its goal is to strengthen the family structure.

The centre deals primarily with high risk families - families in which there may be delinquency, teen pregnancy and drug abuse.