The new 18,000 square feet, family entertainment centre includes a variety of attractions such as a large bumper car track and an innovative children’s play area as well as lots of other fun games and activities.

The Chaguanas store was opened in response to feedback from the successful South branch according to CEO Steve Maharaj. “Ever since we opened our first store in South, we received a lot of requests from guests to open a branch in central as their family entertainment needs were not being met. We are pleased to finally bring the FunStation brand to Chaguanas,” Maharaj said.

The new laser tag arena is already popular with both adults and kids as they compete to become the champion of the arena. “It’s nice to see parents and children playing together.

We have also hosted a number of laser team-building events for companies. It’s a great icebreaker for staff.” Both kids and adults can also enjoy the new bumper car track. “The cars are large enough that two adults can fit together in one car. It’s especially fun watching kids’ excited expressions as many of them are driving for the first time.” The Active PlayZone is the newest attraction. It is a two-level fully interactive play area with elements such as ball blasters, obstacle course and a spiral slide. The PlayZone is healthy, active fun for kids. It is always supervised by an attendant as safety is a high priority at FunStation.

Continuous improvement is critical to long-term success, Maharaj says. “TT has a very advanced population when it comes to entertainment. Our company has a philosophy of continuous improvement and we’re always adding new games and attractions. FunStation (South) was the first standalone family entertainment centre locally and the first to have fixed-location bumper cars, carousel, train, rocket ride and mini-bowling. We introduced laser tag to TT and this year we added the Active PlayZone. Now Chaguanas can share in the fun!” FunStation opens everyday including holidays and admission is free.

It didn’t take long for me to discover a profound respect for Deborah, who defied the norm of the boisterous, high-strung journalist in a newsroom where objects sometimes flew through the air. I am not joking. There actually were times when we really had to dodge missiles.

Deborah, always cool-headed and calm, often served as a peacemaker in that energy-charged environment.

I never once saw her angry, flustered or judgmental. I remember her as one of the most open-minded and accepting journalists I have ever known.

On the other hand, I was a bundle of nerves, unsure of myself and always frustrated that I couldn’t seem to establish an identity as a journalist. I had been writing under the name Deborah Jacob because Jack Cady, a wellknown writer from Seattle that I had known, once told me not to use my nickname Debbie when I wrote. “It’s a little girl’s name,” he said.

The decision to use Deborah did not work out well for me.

It only confused people. Thirty- three years ago when the Trinidad Express made its home in the old cocoa house, I would often get calls from the receptionist saying someone wanted to speak to me. An utter look of shock always crossed the person’s face once I appeared. The person would inevitably say, “But you are not Deborah John.” No, I wasn’t Deborah John. Her reputation as a fair, unbiased and caring journalist had been firmly established. It preceded my entry into journalism. Still, Deborah never made me feel unwelcome.

She created no feeling of competition with other reporters. She had established her own reputation as a journalist separate and distinct from the identity her father, journalist and editor George John, had established.

She had a keen eye for a story.

Deborah had been one of the first journalists to recognise the rising star of David Rudder, and when I settled in features and often wrote entertainment stories, she shared her contacts and her anecdotes about soca stars so that I could establish myself. We often ended up writing stories on the same people and the stories never appeared to be competitive. They complemented each other.

For some, journalism can be a job. Journalism proved to be Deborah’s life, and she pursued it with a rare, selfless zeal, always seeking to elevate the profession over her own personal reputation.

Years after I left the Express, I still remember a phone call I got from Deborah John about a study companion Macmillan Caribbean had me write for the play Moon on a Rainbow Shawl, written by her uncle, Errol John.

Deborah had been so happy, excited and supportive about the study companion. She told me that Errol John’s wife, her aunt, was still alive and she would arrange for me to meet her if I wanted. I never took her up on that opportunity, but I always felt proud that Deborah had been so pleased that a critical work of Errol John’s had been published.

I’m sorry that I never told Deborah how much I appreciated her support when I first came into journalism. At the time, I was so self-absorbed I could feel nothing but frustration that I could be confused continuously with someone else. Now, in hindsight, I realise what a privilege I had been afforded to be mixed up with such a kind, gracious, professional journalist: a good soul, whom we will all miss.

Dead are Michelle Harrylal, 26, her common-law husband Michael Applewaithe, 35, and another male who remained unidentified up to press time.

At about 8 am, a villager in a car was alerted to the tragedy when he saw Harrilal’s four year old son wandering barefoot along the roadway. The villager said the boy appeared to be traumatised.

The crying child told the woman his mommy was burnt in a fire and is in heaven.

The villager, who knew the boy, drove to the family’s home and saw the house burnt to the ground. The house is located miles off the Carlsen Field Road in a forested area and there are no houses in close proximity to the structure. Members of the Police and Fire Services were contacted and when they arrived, police said a trail of blood was found near the ruins.

Investigators are working on the theory that the occupants were killed and their bodies set on fire in the house.

Residents said they had seen smoke earlier that day but many assumed it may have been a bush fire in the area. Newsday was told the boy lived with his mother and step father at the location for the past year.

It was shortly after 2pm fire fighters removed the skeletal remains of three people. They were viewed by district medical officer Naresh Singh who instructed the police to take the remains to the Forensic Science Centre. Investigators said tests would have to be done to confirm the identity of the victims. Yesterday, villagers expressed shock as they watched crime scene investigators remove charred bodies. Harrylal’s sister, Dana Babwah, 20, had to be consoled by relatives. She told Newsday she could not understand why someone would want to harm her sister. “I can’t believe this is happening,” she said as her hands trembled. Babwah said she was happy her nephew was not harmed. “It is a really a miracle he is alive.

He ran from the fire and did not know where he was going but he just kept running until he reached the roadway where he was found wandering.” Babwah said she last spoke to her sister on Monday.

“My sister and her son were very close. You never saw Michelle without her son, it breaks my heart what happened. The man she was living with, Michael, treated her son like his own and (the child) would call him daddy.” Babwah said she was unaware of any threats made on her sister’s life.

The child was was taken to the Chaguanas Health Facility were he was examined and discharged.

Homicide Region Three police officers are investigating.

The activities get going at 6 am with a 5K marathon for adults and a 3K run for the children with am added bonus of complimentary massages for race participants.

Breakfast, lunch, drinks and snacks will be on sale and a variety of stalls as well as Purple Dragon products will be on sale. Other activities include bubble football, tug of war and an aerobic burnout will complete the events.

The Ministry of Health will also be on site to offer blood pressure testing, cholesterol and blood sugar tests.

Additional entertainment will be provided by a DJ and moko jumbies.

The organisers are inviting the public to support the event as part proceeds will assist with the medical expenses for one of the Purple Dragon instructors.

For more info and registration for marathons check Facebook

TT national Douglas Gordon who is the event director says the cannabis industry is the fastest growing business opportunity globally. He said the business conference and expo was arguably the most critical networking, discussion and information exchange platform in the Caribbean where participants would have the opportunity to meet and interact with stakeholders and professionals.

At the event, there will be over 20 speakers headlined by Montel Williams, the American television personality and radio talk show host, who is also a spokesman for the Partnership for Prescription Assistance (PPA). After being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1999, Williams created the MS Foundation, a non-profit organisation with a focus on research and education, a year later.

Williams has openly said that he uses medical cannabis, saying it helps to ease his multiple sclerosis-caused neuropathic pain. He has also become a vocal advocate of cannabis, supporting efforts to pass medical cannabis laws in the US, as well as calling for full legalisation.

Gordon said: “The event comes at a pivotal time in Jamaica and will bring together professionals from across the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe and North America to discuss opportunities for investment, medical developments and the legal landscape.” The conference will also feature presentations and exhibitions by experts, policymakers, researchers and business people.

Gordon is inviting local stakeholders to get involved in the event.

The event featuring six local rock bands, an Aruban and Canadian band takes place tomorrow at Space La Nouba, South Trunk Road, Gulf View, La Romaine.

“This concert features six local bands, all who have made their own sound within these borders, some of which are flying the flag of Trinidad and Tobago high internationally,” said a media release.

LYNCHPiN, Incert Coin, The Supernormal Band, Alter Rootz, Goodnight Parliament and Bound to Oblivion are the six local bands on the cast. Aruban band This Will Be No More and Canadian Keychain are the two international participants.

According to the release, local band Bound to Oblivion was described as “some of the younger blood in the Trinidad rock scene” and as having what it takes to take TT further in the rock world.

Described as a band which merges TT ’s flavour with rock and roll, fans of Alter Rootz can look forward to hearing the band’s fused sound. “These four individuals have created a sound that encompasses a matrix of Caribbean music fused with the sounds of metal, hip hop, far and Middle Eastern influences. Recently they have come back from representing Trinidad and Tobago in Canada’s Club One Releases Showcase,” the release said. Local grunge-metal band Goodnight Parliament, it said, strives to push musical boundaries and blur the lines of musical genres.

The Supernormal Band, one of the five Wacken Caribbean Metal Battle finalists selected to represent TT in Suriname, will also perform at the concert. The release said, “This four-piece Trinidadian rock band was created in 2008 by founding members Andy Rambharat and Mitch Ramberan and is a melting pot of rock, kaiso, calypso and dancehall…” Described as local hard rock legends, Incert Coin, complete with its new members, will also be there. Fans might hear from the band’s fifth album, And in the end..s’all for naught. Rounding up the TT acts will be Wacken Caribbean Metal Battle finalist and winner, LYNCHPiN.

Another Wacken Caribbean Metal Battle finalist, This Will Be No More, who has toured in Suriname and Mexico, will be the regional act at the concert.

Keychain who has played over 200 shows in four countries this year, including the final night of Festival d’été de Québec (with Gorillaz, Of Mice and Men, etc.), Mexico with Crazy Town, and across Canada with Nothing More, Hed PE and The Devil Wears Prada; will perform some of its hits for attendees.

Tickets are available at various malls.

Several things stood out about the concert, the maturity of audience, the musicians and the choice of songs presented. Parris was in his first full-length concert while Bri was warming the audience with her soothing voice. They both did several solo pieces before coming together as a duet. Strangely, Parris seemed to be off his mark from the start. Listening to him on several previous occasions he came across very well, but somehow he seem outside his comfort zone that night.

Sources said it was not like that in the rehearsals but it just did not click for him. Congratulations must go out to him for going the distance as he got better in the second half of the show. It was also nice to see him do the Kalyan’s classic Can You Love Me.

Other songs he performed included My Love, Love on the Brain, Pledge Allegiance and Permission.

Bri on the other hand chose to use her songs to try to capture the love of her life. Songs like The Very Thought of You, All Night Long (Nancy Wilson), I am Ready for Love (India Arie), Love Song (Adele) and Your love is King (Sade). Her poem, Body over Mind, showed her struggle with love and had the audience wrapped up in her story. Together, Parris and Bri performed Insanity and You’ve Got what it Takes.

The music was exceptional with Tony Paul excelling on his saxophone and flute doing several solos.

Dean Williams was also very good on guitar. Ron Clarke on keyboards also had several solos to add to the variety. Andre Jack (bass) and Shaquille Noel (Drums) complemented them but Noel was too loud at times. Mikhail Salcedo (pan) opened the concert with Bri while Makeena James and Alianna Grant provided background vocals for the night.

Before the audience dispersed young and upcoming comedian and current Kaiso Blues barman Keston James gave several jokes and was warmly received.

Magistrate Nalini Singh said in the Princes Town Magistrates’ court that she was minded to sentence Isahark, 45, a telephone operator at the San Fernando Magistrates’ court, to six months in jail which is the maximum penalty for making the false police report in addition to a $1,000 fine.

But the man, taxi driver Deonath Ramsubhag, whom she made the report against, poured out his heart inside the courtroom for the magistrate to have mercy on Isahark.

“Taxi drivers laughing at me.

People don’t want to travel with me but please have mercy on her Your Honour,” Ramsubhag pleaded. “No, No, please don’t do that to her.” Isahark had pleaded not guilty when she appeared on Thursday last before Singh but yesterday she changed her plea.

Prosecutor Sgt Shazeed Mohammed, related that at about 8.30 pm Isahark went to the Barrackpore Police Station and reported she was raped. Corporal Neil Nanan spent five hours investigating the matter in which he recorded a statement from Isahark then took her to the Princes Town District Health Facility.

The necessary medical tests were conducted with a view to sending them for analysis at the Forensic Science Centre. He arrested Ramsubhag, who was placed in a cell in the Princes Town Police Station for an entire night. But after Nanan had interviewed Ramsubhag and confronted Isahark, she admitted, “I never get rape. I lied.” Attorney Petronella Basdeo made a stirring plea on Isahark’s behalf, saying she was most contrite, had no previous convictions and the “victim” had forgiven her.

But Singh said that Ramsubhag was the important person in determining how the court treated with the matter and she called him forward.

“What’s your view with respect to this matter?” she asked.

Ramsubhag began to plead for Isahark, saying, “I forgive this lady for this….don’t send her to jail please. Please don’t do that. With all this thing I gone through, I forgive she. I know my reputation get damage; taxi men telling me all kinds of things.” Singh told Isahark, a mother of one and employed for the past 12 years, that she could have faced six months in jail. When the magistrate said that, Ramsubhag erupted with more pleas, “No no, please don’t do that. Please, don’t let she lose she wuk. What will happen to she?” Singh told Isahark that to fabricate a rape case against a man, is one of the most horrendous things one can do, “because at the end of the day, all a man has is his word.” The magistrate went on to tell her that her actions could have the effect of diminishing the public’s view about genuine rape victims.

Isahark is to report to the Probation Office, San Fernando, where it would be determined the nature of her 250 hours of community service. She is to return to court on September 21.

According to reports at about 3.30 pm yesterday, Eastern Division police received calls from residents that a woman was seen down a precipice in a heavily forested area off Oropouche Road. Police went to the scene and found the body of the woman believed to be in her late thirties in a blue three-quarter jeans and blue striped t-shirt lying face down.

Police said the body showed marks of violence and foul play has not been ruled out. An autopsy is expected to be done today to determine a cause of death. Newsday was told the body is said to match the description of a woman who reportedly went missing several days earlier. However, up until press time, police were unable to confirm whether this was the missing woman.

The JSC will hold two meetings on the ferry fiasco next week. One will be held on Monday in Trinidad and the other on Wednesday in Tobago.

Among those expected to appear before the JSC are a number of Government ministers and suspended PATT employee Leon Grant.

If he was invited to attend, Purdey told Newsday yesterday, “We will certainly attend. I am looking forward to meeting with Government and finding a positive path forward.” Purdey said “there was no crookedness” on Bridgeman’s part in the charter party agreements for the cargo vessel Cabo Star and passenger vessel Ocean Flower 2. “The contracts were above board,” he added.

The contract for the passenger vessel was eventually cancelled.

Apart from those quick comments, Purdey would not answer more questions. He said he would be issuing a press release before noon. Contacted after noon, he said the release was sent to another newspaper which will be distributing it to the rest of the media.

The JSC’s hearing on Monday in Trinidad will start at 1 pm under the chairmanship of Independent Senator Stephen Crease in the J Hamilton Maurice Room at the Office of the Parliament, Tower D.

On Wednesday the JSC will hold two hearings, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon, at the Victor E Bruce Financial Complex, Scarborough, Tobago.