Deadline passes for Police commissioner?s job

With the deadline now closed five candidates have applied for the post of Police Commissioner but Government House is staying tight-lipped about how many are local.

However understands among the five tipped to have applied is civil servant and lawyer Marc Telemaque.

Asked about rumours he had put in for the job Mr. Telemaque said: ?I heard that too but I am not going to comment on anything like that. I think you will have to ask the person who got the applications.?

When pressed, the Bermuda Regiment officer said: ?I am very happy being permanent secretary at Tourism and Transport.?

And former Assistant Commissioner and current PLP Wayne Perinchief denied he had put in for the job. He said: ?I wasn?t asked and didn?t apply.?

Current Police CommissionerJonathan Smith is retiring in December to go into business. Deputy Commissioner George Jackson and Assistant Commissioner Carlton Adams are seen as likely applicants as are Superintendents Roseanda Jones and Sinclair White.

Speedy Adcock foils another robbery ? his own

A Bermudian triathlete with a prior record of running down criminals in Hamilton wanted to warn the public he was nearly mugged in daylight as he used a Front Street bank.

Insurance worker Newton Adcock, 53 said he was withdrawing money a Bank of Butterfield ATM machine, near Burnaby Street at around 6.50 p.m. on Sunday when two men in their 20?s threatened him until he jumped into his nearby car.

?They said ?What you got for me??,? Mr. Adcock said. ?I ran into my car but they started kicking it as I drove away.?

He drove to Hamilton Police Station where he reported the incident. A Police spokesman said inquiries into the incident were underway, and that a 19-year-old Pembroke man was arrested.

?It could have been a tourist,? Mr. Adcock said. ?It is something people need to be aware of. He said the two men never touched him and never demanded money. Police did not say whether the teen had been charged with anything.

In 2001, Mr. Adcock chased down a suspected bank robber for three miles after about $5,000 was snatched from a cashier at the Bank of Bermuda.

Landlord wants to zoning change

A Hamilton landlord said he wants to turn two homes into office space as soon as possible, because he is sick of Bermudian tenants.

George Pavey has sought planning permission to change the use of No. 14 Joell?s Alley from residential to commercial/office space.

?Molyneux? on Joells Alley is a large property and was once a guest house, Mr. Pavey said yesterday, with four bedrooms on the first floor plus a large living room.

But Mr. Pavey resides in the US and said he had problems managing residential tenants. ?Bermudians were living there,? he said. ?They don?t pay, or they were not punctual with their payments.?

He said the tenants had adversely affected the condition of the property. ?They don?t keep it up,? he said.

In addition, as an absentee landlord, he said it was not economically viable to find anyone in Bermuda to manage his property because rent control meant he could not raise enough rent to pay the property agent?s salary.

?If I am not collecting rent I cannot pay the agency,? he said. ?I thought by changing it into a commercial property I would have less responsibility. I?d like to turn it into an office as soon as possible. The first floor is already empty.?

This is the first of two city properties Mr. Pavey wants to turn into office space, he said, the second being on Elliott Street.

Mermaid eyes more condos

The old Mermaid Beach staff accommodations and laundry room could be knocked down in order to build ten condos. Each 2,300 square foot condo will feature a $1.4 million price tag.

Brian Alkon has sought planning permission to demolish the existing buildings at No. 35 and 37, South Shore Road, Warwick in order to construct a new apartment house development consisting of ten new homes.

?It?s across the street from Mermaid Beach,? Mr. Alkon said. ?We?re taking down the present buildings and levelling the ground and building ten, three-bedroom, three-bathroom family condos.?

He said the Breakers North development would include access to beach rights at ?the Breakers? and include a large play area for children. Pending planning approval, Mr. Alkon wished to commence work on the property in March 2006. He would not comment on the anticipated cost of the project.

Bank wants wheelchair access at HQ

The HSBC/Bank of Bermuda has sought planning permission to make its Albouy?s Point headquarters wheelchair friendly.

Mr. Chip Waters made an application to install a new entrance ramp, hand rail and glazed balustrade at No. 6, Front Street.

?The plan calls for an access ramp to be located on the western end of the Front Street entrance and provides for a gradient suitable for wheelchair access, leading to the Bank?s main entrance doors,? the Bank?s head of marketing Cynthia Wright said. ?The entrance doors will also be appropriately modified to accommodate wheelchairs.?

She said the proposed addition was designed behind the existing column lines in order to preserve the essential character of its head office.

?All work would be completed within the confines of the existing building lines and on the Bank?s property,? she stressed.

She said the Bank?s submission had yet to be approved by the Department of Planning but hoped to deliver a truly community-accessible building.