Airport re-paving causes delays

Airport managers yesterday announced that travellers can expect delays until the end of the month getting to and from airplanes from the respective gates.

LF Wade International Airport general manager Aaron Adderley explained the delays were a result of three of eight gates on the airport's parking apron being out of service during the pavement resurfacing project.

Mr. Adderley said recent inclement weather had delayed completion of the project which had been planned to end before increased visitor arrivals began earlier this month.

He added that during peak times, as many as eight airplanes arrive within 90 minutes of each other.

Yesterday, Air Canada flight 942 and Delta flight 508 experienced delays of up to 40 minutes.

Drug Master Plan to be debated today

The House of Assembly will today debate the National Drug Control Master Plan. No legislation will be debated although an Opposition motion might also get discussed. That motion, moved by Jon Brunson, is on the need to "develop a comprehensive National Sports Agenda that features equitable funding for all sports in Bermuda".

Man fined for heroin possession

A Pembroke man was fined $1,000 after he admitted possessing heroin yesterday in Magistrates' Court.

Justis Rahman Smith, 29, of Deepdale Road was arrested January 29 when officers were on patrol in the Deepdale area and stopped him.

The court heard from Crown counsel Nicole Smith, the 29-year-old appeared nervous and was searched under the Misuse of Drugs Act.

Smith was seen taking something from his pocket and put it in his mouth. Officers told him to spit it out and when he refused, he was restrained to make sure he didn't swallow the item.

When the defendant eventually spit it out, officers found a brown paper twist with six foil wraps containing brown powder.

Asked what it was, Smith said: "It's heroin. They are decks. There should be five or six in the twist."

The Government analyst revealed the foil wraps to be 0.14 grammes of the controlled drug diamorphine. Smith's lawyer, Elizabeth Christopher explained to Acting Senior Magistrate Juan Wolffe, her client saw the Police coming "from a mile away".

She said: "You notice he didn't swallow them. This is a serious matter but he's prepared to tackle it".

Smith was fined $1,000 to be paid by the end of the month.

Bermuda Laws Online now up to date

A mammoth six-year project to put all Bermuda's laws online in an up-to-date format has been completed, Attorney General Kim Wilson has announced.

In a statement to the Senate, she described the completion of the website Bermuda Laws Online as "a welcomed and long anticipated event by our legal fraternity, the local and international business community and the public at large."

Sen. Wilson explained that access to the laws has been available for the past six years on the website, which was the vision of late Attorney General Dame Lois Browne-Evans, but not all of them were consolidated with amendments.

She told the Senate: "The Attorney General's chambers has just completed the enormous task of consolidating all of Bermuda's laws up to the present day. Over 1,000-plus laws have been amended to reflect the law as it stands today."

Sen. Wilson further revealed that in order to handle the task of keeping the database up-to-date in future, her chambers is working with the Ministry of Energy, Telecommunications and E-commerce to purchase a computerised information management system.

Rider had 'one, two, maybe three beers'

A Warwick man admitted to riding while impaired after he was stopped by Police for not having a front light on his cycle.

Vincent Gomes, 29, of Tearoom Hill, was arrested on October 17 of last year when officers saw him riding west on South Road on a dark coloured cycle.

Officers noticed the cycle's front light was not working and the rider was speeding so they turned around and made him stop.

When the officers told Gomes about the light, he explained it was his first time riding the bike. As he got off the cycle, his eyes were glazed, he smelled of alcohol and was unsteady on his feet. Asked if he had anything to drink, the 29-year old said: "I had one, two, maybe three beers."

Gomes was arrested under the suspicion of impaired driving and taken to the Police Station where a breathalyser test revealed he had 234 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood. The legal limit is 80. Acting Senior Magistrate Juan Wolffe fined Gomes $1,000 and gave him a one-year driving ban.