The Planning Department is gathering evidence for the Director of Public Prosecutions after a Somerset man was accused of bulldozing through natural rock formations, destroying longtail nests and building on woodland reserve.

Henry Talbot has been ordered to put a halt to all construction on his beach house and jetty at the beach at Gilbert?s Bay.

Planning director Rudolph Hollis said the Planning investigation launched two weeks ago is continuing. ?We are preparing the file and the official statement,? he said yesterday. ?The investigating officer is on vacation till next week so that puts a bit of a snag in the process.?

The Planning Department has received a report from Government Conservation Officer Jeremy Madeiros on the matter, he confirmed.

However, Mr. Hollis would not expand on what the report said. Mr. Madeiros could not be contacted by The Royal Gazette yesterday.

The matter was brought to the attention of the Planning Department after horrified neighbours noticed Mr. Talbot had bulldozed completely through the natural rock formations on the beach and shaved away a portion of the cliff face.

Environmentalists, including Jennifer Gray of the Audubon Society and Mr. Madeiros, expressed outrage at the damage done, particularly with regard to the longtail nests, while Shadow Environment Minister Cole Simons called for an end to ?environmental terrorism?.

The Corporation of Hamilton are searching for a new Common Councillor this month.

Bruce Lines, former Stevedoring chief, has stepped down from the position because in order to hold the Common Councillor post one must have an affiliation with the Corporation of Hamilton.

Since he resigned from Stevedoring Services he no long has an affiliation with the Corporation. The Corporation will be holding elections for the position from 11 a.m. until 8 p.m. on June 17.

Nominations are to be delivered to the Returning Officer, Justin Williams, on June 10 at City Hall from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. Deposits of $250 in respect of each candidate will also be collected.

Forms of nomination paper can be obtained from the Secretary of the Corporation during usual office hours.

Former Premier Jennifer Smith has been inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame at her alma mater, the Art Institute of Pittsburgh.

The Career Colleges Association will induct Ms Smith to the Hall of Fame on June 17 at the Disney Yacht and Beach Club Resort in Orlando, Florida.

Ms Smith, now the first female Deputy Speaker in the House of Assembly, told Spring 2003 graduates at the Institute last year that she set out to be an artist, but ended up as Premier.

?I have learned that passion can take you places you never expected,? she said. ?It was my passion for drawing that led me to leave my Island home, against my parents? best wishes for my future, to pursue training for an art career, in a place where I knew no one, and at a time when it was rare in Bermuda for someone of my race to find full-time work in this field.

An accident on South Shore Road outside the Warwick Long Bay playground on Wednesday night has left the Fire Service mystified.

While one vehicle was left perpendicular across the road after being impacted so severely from the front that the engine was nearly vaulted into the passenger chamber, the other ? a van ? appeared to have suffered only minor damage.

?We?re still trying to figure out how that could be,? Fire spokesperson Lt. Dana Lovell said yesterday. ?We?re not clear on that.?

The Fire Service received the call at 9.22 p.m. on Wednesday, he said, and dispatched units from Port Royal Fire Station and the hospital. The accident took place outside the Warwick Long Bay playground on South Shore.

?The Volkswagen was facing south (towards the lay-by overlooking the ocean by Warwick Long Bay on South Shore),? he said. ?The guys weren?t even sure from the position of the vehicles who was going which way.?

The three people involved in the accident suffered only minor injuries. Two female passengers believed to be in their mid-30s, seated in the front seat of the Volkswagen Golf convertible, sustained knee injuries from the impact, while the rear passenger, also female, suffered hip and thigh injuries.

All three women were taken to the hospital for treatment. It is not clear what happened to the driver of the van. Initial Police reports did not cite alcohol as a cause for the accident, though a final report was still being compiled yesterday.

Former Romanoff?s restaurant owner Antun Duzevic has cried foul saying valuable paintings which formerly hung in his restaurant have gone missing.

Whether the fault is of the firm which liquidated the restaurant or some other party Mr. Duzevic does not know, but he is demanding the paintings ? which he says are valued around $200,000 apiece ? be returned, or he will take the matter to court. When Romanoff?s was involuntarily liquidated in 1997, Mr. Duzevic said his own private collection of art by Croatian artist Josip Generalic was on the walls.

The art did not belong to the Bermuda Business Club, Ltd., which operated the restaurant, Mr. Duzevic said. ?At the time my attorney presented the relevant documents to the liquidators. The liquidators ignored it and decided to seize the art. The art was kept at a location, not known to me, for two years.?

In April of 1999, Mr. Duzevic said he was told he could collect the art. ?But first I must pay the cost the liquidator incurred for storage and insurance. I was also presented with an indemnity document to sign.?

At first Mr. Duzevic refused to sign the indemnity agreement but he later had an offer from someone who wanted to buy the art.

?I needed to raise some cash for a project so I could not afford to lose this opportunity,? he said. ?I decided, without the advice of my attorney, to go and sign the indemnity and collect the art.?

Arranging with liquidators PricewaterhouseCoopers to collect the art, Mr. Duzevic said four pieces and large folder containing 150 original etchings and prints were missing from the collection.

The folder was later found and returned, Mr. Duzevic said, but the four pieces of art ? some valued up to $200,000 each ? are still missing. With the indemnity agreement signed, however, the firm said it considered the matter over.

?This is not a laughing matter,? Mr. Duzevic said. ?If they paid attention to the inventory list and found any discrepancy then I should have been advised accordingly. But this was not the case. I will demand the missing pieces back or adequate compensation.?

A group of intrepid walkers has raised over $50,000 for the benefit of local stroke victims. A dozen walkers participated in a 24-hour walkathon in March to raise money for a new stroke unit at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital (KEMH).

The walkers raised $24,871.50 for their efforts this year and $30,000 last year in a similar event.

?This calculates to $54,971.50 contributed by the people of Bermuda towards the implementation of a much needed Neuro-Stroke unit within (KEMH) to assist with the rehabilitation of the many persons in the community who find themselves struggling with the aftermath of being afflicted by a stroke and its related trauma,? said organiser Marilyn Steede.

The walkers raised the money by walking the length of the Island until 24 hours had passed. They donated 100 percent of the monies collected. ?All relevant expenses are being borne by the event organiser and sponsors,? said Ms Steede.

The 12 walkers who participated this year were: Cindy Caise, Cindy Wilkes, Filomena Ferrelli, Gladys Maderios, Imelda Dulay, Jennifer Janovich, Judy Benevides, Katherine Madeiros, Moira Lindo, Raymond Ray, Reming Ray and Sandra Scott.