[naviga:h2]Slammin sudden death playoff[/naviga:h2]

WORKPLACE EQUITY

Governments proposed Workplace Equity Act 2007, which would give Commission for Unity and Racial Equality (CURE) powers to fine companies up to $50,000 if they block the progress of black Bermudians, met with heavy emotion on all sides of the issue.

On October 4, Former Cabinet Minister Renee Webb came out against her own Government's proposed workplace quota law, saying Government must fix the education system first. In December, outgoing Bermuda Employers Council boss Willie DeSilva seemed to echo Ms Webb's concerns, saying poor schools were limiting opportunities for Bermudians.

"The modification and adoption of this piece of legislation into Bermuda will not accomplish that same feat because those doors are already wide open."

Governor Sir. John Vereker also voiced concern about the act, saying it could violate Bermuda's constitution. But Attorney General Philip Perinchief blasted the Governor saying he acted "reprehensibly" by voicing concerns over the Workforce Equity Act 2007.

He also struck out at lawyer Timothy Marshall saying he acted "deplorably" when he said Bermuda's Constitution would be violated by the proposed new law forcing companies to hire and promote blacks.

Mr. Perinchief said: "It is quite deplorable and entirely unhelpful when every time this Government attempts to right the wrongs of the past, presided over and even encouraged by successive UBP administrations more than their 30 years in power; there are those who rush forward to 'champion the cause of human rights'."

Later in the month it was revealed that the legislation could be extended to all firms, not just large ones.

PGA GRANDSLAM

A dramatic ending to Bermuda's first PGA Grand Slam brought thousands to their feet and saw Angel Cabrera lift the coveted trophy above his head on October 18. Approximately 10 percent of the Island's population, 7,000 people, turned up at the Mid Ocean Golf Course to see four of the world's best.

Angel Cabrera started with a triple bogey, leaving him five shots adrift but finished yesterday as the PGA Grand Slam of Golf champion following a dramatic sudden death play-off.

Not even 36 pulsating holes could separate Cabrera and Padraig Harrington, who was four shots clear with just 11 holes remaining.

In November, it was announced that the PGA Grand Slam of Golf had gone over so well, organisers were promising to return next year. A two-year deal was signed to bring the tournament to the Mid Ocean Club this year and in 2008, but there was a get-out clause allowing the PGA to pull out if it felt that Bermuda could not host the event properly.

Statistics

Taxi fares were to increase by 10.5 percent from December 1.

The price of gasoline dropped 1.4 cent per litre with the maximum retail price at $1.74 per litre, still significantly higher than the $1.61 gas cost this time last year.

From April through August, the number of tourists flying to Bermuda solely for pleasure dropped, at times by as much as 15 percent compared to 2006. The number of people categorised as coming to Bermuda on vacation has fallen by almost five percent this year.

Butterfield Bank reported third quarter profits of $39.6 million, a record for the group and up 14.4 percent year on year.

The number of traffic collisions jumped 12 percent this September over the same month last year.

A study carried out at last year's Bermuda College Career Fair revealed that 53 percent of students aged between 13 and 17 had "absolutely no interest in careers in tourism", according to a release from consulting firm Profiles of Bermuda.

Calls to the Womens Resource Centre charity's hotline soared by 31 percent this year.

Health professionals screened 112 people aged 17 to 84 during three days of screening at TCD. A few of the results included 66 percent of people were overweight or obese (compared with 61 percent in the Bermuda Health Survey) although only four percent identified themselves as such, 24 percent had an elevated blood sugar level, and 54 percent knew experts recommend 30 to 60 minutes exercise a day.

October 2007 Voices

"If international business left Bermuda it could be catastrophic to tourism because there is that much reliance on business visitors."

– Opposition MP David Dodwell. He lost his seat in the December 2007 General Election.

"I just don't understand why he is gone. They (the Police) say they are still with the case. That's all they say. They haven't told me anything. I'm not giving up hope. I promised myself I will find out one way or the other."

– Danny Crockwell, father of Shaki Crockwell, urged other victims of violence to keep fighting for justice during a Stop The Violence march he organised.

"Thank you very much. You saved my life. If I ever see you in town I owe you a beer."

– Brian McCullough, 29, speaking from his Intensive Care bed minutes before being medevacked to the US, after a good Samaritan pulled his badly burned body from the water after his boat exploded.

"The Bermuda we have known for the last five years has not always been at ease with itself. The scars of Bermuda's social history are not yet all healed. Even in this small island, the sense of common purpose is not yet universal. But small can, and must, embrace diversity. All the colours of the rainbow manage to live together in harmony in a single drop of dew."

– Outgoing Governor Sir John Vereker.

"Let none dissuade you by their false assertions and untruths. Let none dissuade you by their questioning our integrity or impugning our motives — the Progressive Labour Party still represents the best and brightest hope for our country, our people and our future."

– Premier Dr. Ewart Brown.

"You're really dealing with a property which needs significant remediation. There are a lot of large environmental issues that need to be dealt with first. To somehow suggest you can put a stand-alone hotel up there without dealing with the rest of it just doesn't make sense."

– Opposition MP Grant Gibbons talking about the idea of moving the Southlands hotel development to heavily polluted former baselands property Morgans Point in Southampton. Dr. Gibbons was returned to his safe UBP seat.

"It's been a great experience for everyone. Already I have had people asking me to put them on the list for next year. They want to do it all over again."

– Jim Huber, a TNT Sport commentator speaking about the PGA Grand Slam in Bermuda.

"We have to be very careful that Bermuda is not seen as a jurisdiction that allows unregulated human medical research and treatment."

– Dr. Gibbons – a biochemist by training – on Stemedica.

Attorney General Philip Perinchief on the response to the Workforc Equity Bill: "Mr. Timothy Marshall, a recipient and beneficiary of this unequal status quo, and a lawyer, should know better. The outgoing Governor (Sir John Vereker), a non-lawyer has acted in even a more inhibitive manner and quite rehrehensibly. In both these instances, these two individuals are wrong on their perceptions of the law."

"What the Attorney General doesn't know is that my father, brought up by a single parent who absolutely believed in the power of education, couldn't get a job in Bermuda after university because of his Portuguese heritage."

– Tim Marshall.

October 2007 Timeline

October 1: New Government TV channel, CITV, aired to great fanfare.

October 2: Southampton Glebe Primary School was renamed Dalton E. Tucker Primary School in honour of one of Bermuda's great Bermudian educators. The class of 1969 proposed to rename the school after Mrs. Tucker who was the headmistress for more than thirty years.

October 5: The Minister of the Environment refused an appeal for a wind turbine on a house after Planning officers criticised its "visual impact" on the building.

October 6: The National Trust President denied the organisation was in turmoil and said they were working hard to buy large open spaces across the Island. Bill Holmes, who has headed the conservation organisation for more than a year, said that while they support environmental advocacy they are focusing their efforts on accumulating and maintaining land.

October 8: A corruption charge against former Minister Nelson Bascome was thrown out. Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner ruled there was insufficient evidence for Bascome to stand trial over allegations he corruptly obtained a business opportunity during his period as Health and Family Services Minister in the late 1990s.

October 12: David Burrows, an off-duty firefighter, rescued his diving buddy after the man fell unconscious while looking for lobsters ten feet underwater.

Casino ship, the Niobe Corinthian, was damaged after one of its engines overheated and caused a fire in the upper lounge area of the vessel.

The ship was en route from St. George's to Dockyard for refuelling in the morning when the starboard engine began to heat as the vessel approached Grassy Bay.

Bermuda's waters were under threat from a venomous nuisance Pacific fish. The lionfish — which can deliver a nasty sting — used to occur exclusively in the Indian and western Pacific oceans, but has in recent years been spotted in the Western Atlantic.

October 19: Two large tractor trailers hauling steel loads were involved in a smash-up on Crow Lane, with one of them having to be written off after a car went through the Northern roundabout. No one was injured.

Former opposition leader Wayne Furbert had a long-running civil case against him thrown out of court. Mr. Furbert had been brought to court by his former contractor, Eustace Floyd Forth, of F2 Property Management over allegations he owed Mr. Forth $130,543.77.

The case was dismissed by Puisne Judge Geoffrey Bell after Mr. Furbert's lawyer, Edward Bailey, noted there were many duplicate charges in Mr. Forth's invoices. Mr. Forth was ordered to pay Mr. Furbert's legal fees.

Bermuda's new Director of Planning, Barbadian Trevor Leach, pledged to rid the department of its reputation for inefficiency and address staff shortages.

October 25: A points system to penalise law-breaking drivers was introduced to crackdown on bad driving. Under the new regulations, drivers received points on their license every time they were caught speeding or violating other traffic laws. Once they reach 12 points their license will be revoked however the points will be revoked two years after the date of the original conviction.

October 26: Somers Cooper took over the reins of A.S. Cooper and Sons in what appeared to be a pivotal moment for the retail industry on the Island.

In line with a 110-year tradition that keeps the company in the hands of the Cooper family dynasty, he stepped up to replace his father Peter who was retiring after 52 years.

October 30: Campaigners were urging the public to donate money to save two green open spaces from development and potentially turn them into wildlife hot sanctuaries.

Buy Back Bermuda (BBB) — a collaboration between Bermuda National Trust and the Audubon Society — needed $2.5 million to buy parcels of land in Hamilton and Southampton Parish.