White Ensign to fly in honour of Trafalgar

There will be a new flag flying over Government House this weekend ? but not because Independence has come early.

Instead the Union Jack will be replaced by the White Ensign in honour of the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar where the British fleet routed a numerically superior combined French and Spanish force.

Normally the White Ensign ? which has the Union Jack in the top left hand corner ? only flies on Royal Navy ships and at naval bases. But in honour of Trafalgar, the flag will be flown on public buildings throughout the UK and the Governor has agreed to follow suit by flying it over Government House.

Trawler severs ocean floor TBI cable

A fishing trawler casting its nets of the North American continental shelf severed a communications cable connecting Bermuda to the USA on Wednesday.

The accident meant that some TeleBermuda International (TBI) customers experienced delays on the data network while traffic was temporarily diverted on a longer transmission path via Brazil.

Mark Wade, the company?s network operations manager said that business data customers rather than voice customers had been affected by the problem, which occurred at 8.03 Eastern Standard Time on Wednesday. ?What happens when there is a fault like this between Bermuda to Tuckerton in the USA is that traffic is automatically switched to the indirect route. That means that some data customers may have noticed a delay,? he said.

?This doesn?t happen that frequently, but about once a year. What happens is that you get a fishing trawler that drops its net over the side on a heavy piece of woods and it drags over the top of the cable and causes problems.?

Mr. Wade added that the cable has now been stabilised by GlobeNet, the company which operates it, and there are no longer any delays.

Charmaine Burgess, vice president corporate communications and market strategy with Cable and Wireless, said the company ? which uses the cable too ? has experienced a minor problem with an outage that lasted for ?milliseconds?.

Police Reserves network in Bahamas

A delegation of Bermuda Police reserve officers are in the Bahamas this week to discuss common ways to fight crime.

Jerry Robinson, Deputy Commandant of the Bermuda Reserves, said the sessions are an opportunity for officers to experience a cultural exchange in Policing.

Quoted in the Freeport News he said: ?We are here to engage in a network programme and to see how reserves in The Bahamas operate, so that we can find out the way they do things in The Bahamas and they can see how we do things in Bermuda.

?Certainly over the next few days we will identify several areas where we can share information and we are hopeful for positive results.?

Twenty-two officers including Chief Inspectors, Inspectors and superintendents have made the trip to the Caribbean Island.

Car stolen from dealership

A thief stole a blue Toyota Corolla from RayClan Ltd on Addendum Lane, Pembroke over the weekend. Police are appealing for anyone with any information on the location of the car to call the Vehicle Crime Unit on 295 0011.

Police send out egg alert

Police are warning shopkeepers to be wary of people buying large quantities of eggs ahead of Halloween after motorists were pelted with eggs by pranksters in recent years.

Mugger makes jewellery snatch

A mugger grabbed a chain from a teenage boy?s neck and then fled on a moped after a struggle in a Hamilton street on Monday morning.

The 17-year-old victim, from Pembroke, was walking along Cedar Avenue at the Dundonald Street junction when a man called him over and grabbed the chain.

Despite a struggle the robber got away on a Yamaha V80. The victim suffered cuts and bruises.

The attacker is described as slim, brown skinned, nearly six feet tall with a thin moustache and a close cut full beard. He wore a black helmet, a baggy short-sleeved white t-shirt and red pants. Witnesses should call Hamilton CID on 295-0011.

New apartments planned for DevonSpring

Eight new apartments could be constructed at No. 47, Devon Spring Lane, near the Mid Atlantic Wellness Institute should a Planning application be successful.

Devon Springs Condominiums made the application on October 10 to build eight new homes at the existing apartment house development, bringing the total of units to 12.

The Bermuda Government land evaluation web-site already lists 36 apartments and three cottages with annual rental values from $13,500 to $30,000 on Devon Spring Lane.

Burglar nabs $400 from Saltus grounds

A burglar stole $400 cash from the office at Saltus swimming pool after breaking in overnight Monday. The culprit also damaged a beverage machine but failed to get at its contents.