In the House meantime Government took a direct hit when the Opposition and the UBP's rebel five ganged up to pass a motion deploring the Finance Minister's consent to Grape Bay Ltd.

As Government stood firm Sir John finally broke his silence, telling The Royal Gazette his application to flip burgers was legitimate and he should be treated like "just like any other case''.

"I'm a backbencher and I expect to be treated like everybody else. I'm not a member of the Government. I'm a backbencher and I have to do the things other people do.'' Memories are surely short in Bermudian politics however. Sir John must have forgotten his advice in 1995 to the former Commanding Officer of the US Naval Air Station -- who appealed on behalf of McDonald's operator Gene Colley to let the outlet at the base remain open.

"John Swan told me McDonald's was just a dumb idea. It would rob business from local restaurants and it would be really unfair to everyone in Bermuda, and anyway it's against the law.

"We have an anti-franchise policy. I was told it was just a non-starter,'' retired US Navy Captain Tim Bryan recalled.

The election of Derrick Burgess to the top BIU job and a flap over the Department of Tourism's new "Let Yourself Go'' campaign provided welcome diversions for burger-weary Bermudians.

While the saucy new ads attracted enough local, mostly positive attention, a war of words between David Dodwell and his PLP shadow spilled over into April.

The ads Mr. Allen charged, "were very tasteless and turned Bermuda's image into that of a painted lady.'' He also slammed the Minister for failing to promote Bermudians within his Department.

Their battle would pale however with the revelation and subsequent uproar over a secret $2-million Government bail-out to the builders of the Westgate prison, a company with previous ties to the Minister of Public Works, Leonard Gibbons.

And news Government further sweetened the pot for Sea-Land Construction by slashing a $1.3-million late completion penalty to $205,000 only added fuel to the fire.

Disguised as part of construction costs, the payment was uncovered by Government Auditor Larry Dennis, who added alternatives such as a loan or loan guarantees were never considered.

PLP Shadow of Works and Engineering Minister Stanley Morton was less restrained, characterising the handout as "dishonourable, sneaky, and underhanded''.

And controversy dogged Government's plans to dump 165 containers of asbestos into the ocean when the eco-warriors of Greenpeace charged the dumping would be in contravention of the London Convention on Marine Pollution.

Good news in April, though hard to find, came largely through individual exploits. Gertrude Barker was boosted to the post of Chief Inspector in the Police Service -- a first for a Bermudian woman.

And former Whitney Institute student Aisha Henderson landed a role on As the World Turns, CBS's long-running daytime soap.

May opened with the news of two passings; Michael Ebbin, one of Bermuda's most successful dance exports, died at age 50 while the weekly Bermuda Times ceased publication, citing a lack of advertising revenue.

The UBP meanwhile seemed incapable of staying out of trouble. A party retreat called to heal wounds generated only more squabbling when Maxwell Burgess showed up sporting a logo-laden McDonald's necktie.

"To go to a retreat that's designed to bring people together wearing such a tie I think is contemptuous,'' sniffed Jim Woolridge.

And Ann Cartwright DeCouto forged ahead with her opposition to Big Macs, dropping a "bombshell'' in the House when she introduced a private members bill to outlaw restaurants with a foreign flavour.

Not surprisingly the latest UBP tracking polls put the party in a dead heat with the PLP. Laid-up in a US hospital and awaiting an operation for a heart aneurysm, Opposition leader Frederick Wade was unavailable to gloat on the good news.

All the while life on the streets seemed to become more desperate and more dangerous. One day after his best friend -- David Riley -- was murdered in an Angle Street knife fight, Patro (Tony) Ford died of injuries sustained in a road accident.

His arm in cast, 34-year-old Gregory Howard Dill appeared before Magistrate Cheryl-Ann Mapp, charged with David Riley's murder.

A day later 38-year-old Michael Burgess died while in Police custody. He had been picked up following reports of a man wandering madly around Hamilton streets, banging his head against walls and refusing medical attention. An autopsy would subsequently reveal crack cocaine in his system.

Violence and heroism spilled over into the month of June when a would-be thief was tackled by a by-stander after an abortive robbery of Lindo's Market in Devonshire.

A man brandishing a handgun entered store shortly before 7 p.m. and demanded money from a cashier. When she couldn't open her till the gunman -- later identified as 33-year-old Derek Roy Spalding -- became frustrated and "then turned his attention on a customer'' before shooting-up the place.

As Spalding fled the scene empty-handed, staff set off in pursuit. It was then 37-year-old Eugene Eversley Jr. joined in, tackling Spalding while taking a 22-caliber slug in the arm.

Spalding, appearing in court a few days later, would subsequently be charged with a string of high-profile robberies and thefts.

An upbeat Police Commissioner Colin Coxall a few days later pronounced crime was plummeting across the land.

In the House politicians continued to battle over, what else, burgers.

The Opposition announced its members were free to vote their conscience on Ann Cartwright DeCouto's Prohibited Restaurants Bill, prompting warnings of dire consequences from the UBP benches.

After a marathon 13-hour debate the bill passed a third reading in the House by a vote of 21-16, only to stall in the upper House when UBP Senators rejected the bill by a vote 6-4.

More embarrassment awaited the UBP when the PLP's acting leader Jennifer Smith tabled a motion of censure against the Premier alleging a litany of political sins, all stemming from Dr. Saul's failure to act in the public interest over the franchise issue.

With a little help from the UBP's rebel backbench, the PLP motion of censure passed by a margin of 21-16 and the Premier -- bruised, battered, and under attack on all fronts -- limped into July fighting for his political life.

Government it appeared, was fighting on all fronts; more problems arose when a bill to set up a company to manage the Base Lands was held up in the House.

And to make matters worse Greenpeace took to the streets outside Government's Tourism offices in New York City to protest the dumping of asbestos in the open ocean.

All the political turmoil seemed like small potatoes however, when two brutal murders -- in quick succession -- shattered Bermuda's image of tranquillity and safety.

On the morning of July 4 four people out walking along a remote stretch of Ferry Reach Road discovered the bloodied body of 17-year-old Canadian visitor Rebecca Middleton. News of the brutal rape and knife-slaying stunned the community and caused an uproar in Canada.

Four days later gunshots crackled across a Middletown neighbourhood.

Shot in the head at point-blank range, 28-year-old James Caines -- a father of two -- managed to stagger nearly a quarter mile only to die in the arms of his stricken mother.

Police, reeling from the violence, offered a $10,000 reward for the murderer of Rebecca Middleton and within a week had arrested 21-year-old Kirk Orlando Mundy -- already out on bail for armed robbery -- and 17-year-old Justis Raham Smith for the murder.

Officers investigating the Caines case meantime probed into the shadows of the Island's drug culture, hoping for a break in the case.

One Middletown man with close links to the streets told The Royal Gazette the shooting was a result of rival gangs clashing over drugs; more trouble could be expected, he said.

Murder also played out in the courts when a jury took less than 15 minutes to convict Richard Steven Williams of the 1995 slaying of 67-year-old Maureen Parker.

Summer should have dawned care-free, but acts of senseless violence cast storm clouds across the Island at the height of the tourist season; it was no wonder headlines declared "visitor satisfaction with Bermuda slumping.'' As August rolled into view only the pageantry of the Olympics and Somerset's nailbiting Cup Match victory provided some hope of escape and a reason to cheer.

Entertaining too was the odd case of four "suspected terrorists'' who were detained, then released, then finally shipped off the Island only to disappear in a cloud of confusion.

More real was the arrest of two men in the Caines murder. Tico Furbert and Sheldon Franks were hauled, in chains, before Magistrate Cheryl Ann Mapp and charged with the murder.

A few days later Police were mobilised yet again when a visiting Canadian Senator and his two companions were tied-up and robbed in a brazen daylight attack in their Southampton home. Within 48-hours Police arrested Anthony Ricardo Richardson.