(CNS): Coalition for Cayman candidate Jude Scott has questioned whether the next Cayman government should be building a cruise port facility in the capital. Going against the current political trend, where most groups and independents are supporting the development of berthing facilities, Scott has questioned whether such a facility would threaten the growing success in overnight tourism and burgeoning stay-over numbers as well as the famous Seven Mile Beach. Speaking at the Chamber of Commerce district forum last week in South Sound, Scott, who is one of five C4C candidates in the capital, said he was not convinced how encouraging “mass tourism” fitted with the country’s overall tourism strategy.

(CNS): Laying out ideas for economic growth and job creation on Cayman Brac that could be put into effect very quickly, PPM Deputy Leader Moses Kirkconnell said that people traveling from the US to Cuba on humanitarian trips frequently go through Grand Cayman but there was no reason why, once the upgrade to the Cayman Brac airport was complete, they could not go through the Brac instead. At a party rally outside Kirkconnell’s Market Friday night, the Progressive incumbent also proposed developing back office work on the island, turning the new hurricane shelter on the Bluff into a hospitality training school and developing sports tourism, as well as creating short term jobs cleaning up the beaches and roads. (Photos by James Tibbetts)

(CNS): As the deadline approaches for the completion of the 2013 round of annual surveys measuring economic activity in the Cayman Islands officials are urging businesses to complete the outstanding forms before Friday 10 May. The Economics and Statistics Office (ESO) staff distributed some 3,400 forms locally to businesses, non-profit institutions and government organisations in the last week of March and first week of April as part of the System of National Accounts (SNA) survey. The survey is the main basis for estimating the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), along with the economic contribution of all sectors to GDP.

(CNS): Independent candidate Stefan Baraud is urging people in the capital to vote on merit and not party lines. The former UDP official, who has turned his back on party politics and elected to run on his own platform in George Town, said he was frustrated with the path political parties have led the country down. He urged his supporters to  consider "all candidates on their individual merits and make an informed decision based on their qualifications, experience, policies and suggested ideas for moving our country forward,” when it comes to their other five votes on 22 May. Baraud, like many others running alone has not said which group or party he would prefer to support into government but that he would work with any LA member.

(CNS): A West Bay mom is calling on the community to help her fight against the misuse of disabled parking spots by taking direct action. For several months Chelsea Rivers has been waging a one-woman campaign but is now asking others to help her ‘name and shame’ those able-bodied drivers who use parking spots reserved for the disabled. She is asking people to hand out flyers and to take photos of cars parked in the designated spots with their number plates visible and then sending the pictures to the RCIPS. After her own disabled son was almost hit by a reversing car as they made their way through the car park, having not been able to use the designated spot because of other inconsiderate drivers, Rivers said she felt she had to do something other than get angry.

(CNS): The police have confirmed that a 75-year-old American tourist who was visiting Cayman Brac on vacation died on Friday soon after snorkelling in the ocean. The tourist was pronounced dead at around 11:30 on Friday morning (3 May) A police spokesperson said the man and his wife were snorkelling in the vicinity of the Fosters Road in the Stake Bay area, where the man collapsed after reaching the shore. Emergency services attended the scene and the victim was transported to the Faith Hospital by ambulance but he was pronounced dead. They were both staying at the Brac Reef Beach Resort.

(CNS): With just over two weeks to go before the general elections, the PNA candidates in West Bay are focusing the fight on their former UDP colleagues. Since taking to the hustings, the incumbent Cabinet members are concentrating their attack not just on the man they helped oust from office but the candidates running with him in the district, where for the first time in many years the result is far from certain. So far, both Cline Glidden and Rolston Anglin have said very little against the two independent candidates or the two running on the C4C ticket or even the PPM team but instead have attacked McKeeva Bush and his running mates for cowardice.

(BBC): The world's first gun made with 3D printer technology has been successfully fired in the US. The controversial group which created the firearm, Defense Distributed, plans to make the blueprints available online. The group has spent a year trying to create the firearm, which was successfully tested on Saturday at a firing range south of Austin, Texas.  Anti-gun campaigners have criticised the project. Europe's law enforcement agency said it was monitoring developments. Victoria Baines, from Europol's cybercrime centre, said that at present criminals were more likely to pursue traditional routes to obtain firearms.

(CNS): Time was against a local activist attempting to get the courts to intervene in what many consider to be the unlawful closure of the West Bay Road. An application filed by Rupert Ackermon, a member of Truly4Cayman, for a judicial review of the closure was denied by a Grand Court judge Wednesday. Justice Charles Quin said the legal challenge to the NRA agreement between the Dart Realty, the Cayman Islands Government and the National Roads Authority was too late. The first of two legal challenges before the courts was refused purely on the procedural basis, so the legitimacy of Ackermon’s arguments were never even considered, delivering a blow to the opponents of the road closure.

(CNS): The Grand Court case against North Side candidate Joey Ebanks was adjourned until 14 June in order for both the defence and crown counsels to deal with the various charges against the former MD of the Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA). Ebanks, who answered his bail in Grand Court, still has more than 20 counts relating to dishonesty in the Summary Court as well as a separate drug related offence, which was also mentioned in Summary Court Friday morning. Several of the dishonesty offences are expected to be committed to Grand Court before his next appearance. Ebanks has continued to vehemently deny the allegations and had continued to claim he is the victim of a corrupt conspiracy because of his efforts to expose corruption.

(CNS): During his cross examination, robbery accomplice and key witness Marlon Dillon was called on to justify his evidence when he faced a number of questions last week from five different defence attorneys representing the men currently on trial for the armed robbery of Cayman National Bank last June. Dillon's story and his account of the daylight heist were put to the test during a lengthy cross examination. It will be up to the twelve jurors to evaluate the co-conspirator's responses along with the evidence provided by various other witnesses before they hand down their verdict as the end of the trial.

(CNS): The Progressives finally released their full manifesto on Thursday night, just three weeks ahead of the election, setting out its policies and plans if it is elected to government later this month. Although the issue of restoring trust in government is a key theme in the PPM’s bid to return to office, the main thrust behind the party’s plans for office is reducing what it described as the “vicious cycle” of tax increases on the man in the street, which is undermining the country’s recovery. The party is promising to roll back as much of the estimated $200 million tax package, which was imposed by the UDP, as quickly as possible by reducing government expenses. (Photo by Mark Lewis)

(CNS): The manager of the Pines retirement home in George Town has left under a cloud of suspicion following the discovery of financial irregularities in the home's accounts. In a short statement from the board on Thursday it was confirmed that KPMG are undertaking a forensic audit and a report is being prepared for the authorities following the departure of Sue Nicholson. Maples and Calder are assisting in the recovery of the missing funds, officials said. Meanwhile, Nicholson’s husband also released a statement to Rotarians stating that his wife had resigned from the service club in the wake of her dismissal and he was working with the Pines board to ensure any missing money would be returned.

(CNS): The Cayman Islands Hospital has been given the nod by the Caribbean Association of Medical Councils (CAMC) to begin internships for medical students. Health Minister Mark Scotland said a delegation from the regional medical association had come to Cayman in March to assess the George Town hospital and the Health Service Authority and had recently confirmed that the facility had been approved. This means that eight trainee doctors from around the region, including Caymanian medical students, can now do a year’s rotation at the local hospital in one of four specialist areas.

(CNS): The government will be publishing a request for proposals on Friday for a consultant firm to draw up the strategic business plan and other essential supporting documents on which it will be able to put together a tendering package for the cruise port facilities. The actual cruise berthing port project will eventually be tendered based on this plan and go through a proper competitive bid. Government has admitted that the project won’t break ground until next year, but with the project now on track towards an internationally accepted process, the chief officer in the tourism ministry confirmed that the cruise port will be started and completed within the time frame of the next administration.