Lewis Hamilton, 31 and half Grenadian, is the embodiment of that success as the world’s top ranking racing driver and only the third to win over 50 races, after Michael Schumacher and Nicolas Prost.

Car racing is a special sport.

Some question the point of going around a track over and over, but the skill of driving at 300 kph and getting the optimum performance out of a sophisticated, finely tuned machine, pitting yourself against tremendous odds is thrilling, even without the satisfaction of out-driving your opponents.

Very few people possess the combination of driving technique, mental agility, intelligence, braveness, physical strength and fitness necessary. Success requires great individualism on the track and a highly united team behind to produce a car consistently in top form that can edge ahead of opponents by fractions of a second. A driver can be the fastest but his pit crew’s skill in three-second tyre changing and repairs can win or lose him the championship, making it a great team sport.

From the moment I could sit on my father’s lap and steer his threegear classic I wanted to drive, preferably at speed. It is not quite as exciting as the experience of feeling air rush past you while on a motorbike, but I could always succumb to the thrill of leaving things standing.

A 1970s drive in a Jaguar XK 150, a later version of the model that won the Le Mans 24-hour race in the 1950s, turned me on to the sport, but car racing was not a possibility for a girl then, alas, and still is not one in Formula One, except as a beautiful, blonde hanger-on.

Forty years ago the world of Formula One was different in one significant way. There was nobody of colour on the engineering teams, behind the wheel, in the pits, and hardly in the crowd. And certainly, if you did not have a lot of money behind you, you could not indulge your love of the sport, man or woman.

Then in the 1990s the 12-year old Lewis Hamilton came onto the scene, becoming the youngest driver to sign onto the McLaren’s driver development programme and eventually secure a Formula One drive. The story of his rise to the very top is impressive. His black, immigrant father, a car-racing enthusiast, had infused his son with his own passion and nursed Lewis’s talent from a tender age, buying him a go-cart for his sixth birthday and working in several jobs to feed his well-brought-up son’s growing skill. Hamilton Snr charted a delicate course in a rarified world as Lewis’s manager.

Lewis went on to win the world championship in 2008, driving a McLaren Mercedes, the first British driver to win Formula One in 12 years, the youngest, and the first black man. He won again in 2014 and 2015. He has endured criticism but slowly the handsome, multi-millionaire is becoming his own man, on and off the circuit.

Lewis made news this week, winning the season’s final Abu Dhabi race for the Mercedes AMG Petronas team. He, controversially, defied team leader instructions not to drive tactically to enable opponents to overtake teammate Nico Rosberg, in second place. The tactic failed and Rosberg narrowly won the 2016 championship on points. Some put Rosberg’s sudden resignation from the sport down to him knowing he won only because Lewis’s car suffered problems all season and that he could never beat Lewis again.

W h e n all is right Lewis is unbeatable for speed and skill. He is a star. Long may he shine.

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Newsday understands the matter has also been reported to the Children’s Protection Authority of Trinidad and Tobago. According to a report on caribbeannewsnow .

com yesterday, the incident occurred while the team was abroad for a West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) regional tournament at a hotel room after the official invited the player for a massage to deal with an injury .

Contacted yesterday, the local cricket official being accused declined comment on the issue. But speaking to Newsday yesterday, CEO of the TTCB Suruj Ragoonath, revealed he has been made aware of the allegation and said the TTCB is carrying out its own probe into the alleged incident before any action is taken .

“I just spoke to my president (Azim Bassarath), the matter has been brought before the Executive, a committee has been set up to investigate the matter but because of the sensitivity of the situation, it is not something that we want to publicly comment on at this time .

“I cannot go into the details, but the matter has been brought to our attention and it is being investigated,” he said. Ragoonath declined to say, however, when the Committee was set up and did not elaborate on what stage the investigation is at given that the allegation occurred over four months ago. Contacted yesterday, the manager of the youth team refused to reveal whether he received a complaint from the teenage cricketer and if he forwarded that report to the TTCB .

“You really can’t be calling me to ask me that kind of question to be honest. I’m saying, you being a journalist, you should know cricket board issues are cricket board issues,” he said. Challenged that the allegation goes beyond cricket, he continued: “This is not a cricket board issue? I am not in a position to answer those kind of questions .

Did I say I received a report? If I’m manager of the cricket team, I am the manager of the cricket team .

the only people I answer to are the people who put me as manager…If I am away and manager of a national team, I cannot be answering to the media or any individual about who made runs (or) who did not make runs (or) who bowled properly. If I find in my opinion the coach performed well, those are issues I answer to the TTCB.”

The shell-shocked woman wasted no time in reporting the matter to the CPU.

The child was medically examined by a doctor.

According to information, when CPU officers went to the girl’s home in an attempt to interview the man, he fled and has not been seen or heard from since.

His cellular phone remains switched off.

The woman has decided to take her child out of the marital home.

Police sources said the officer retired less than five years ago and was once a detective.

Newsday also understands that the Eastern Division has been classified as being one of the divisions having the highest incidents of sexual abuse against children.

Only last week a 26-year-old pastor was arrested and charged with several offences for acts allegedly committed against a 14-year-old student.

Responding to a question on this matter in the House of Representatives on Wednesday, Rowley said the Police Service takes these reports seriously and the Counter- Trafficking Unit looks at these matters if there are “international connections” involve.

He disclosed that joint sensitisation sessions are being held in various communities in the country to educate people about all the signs of human trafficking.

Rowley said while the Police Service has protocols regarding reports of missing persons, there are instances where action is taken less than 24 hours after a report is made.

The Prime Minister also disclosed the British government is assisting Government with a manpower audit of the Police Service. He said the British are also assisting in improving other aspects of the Police Service’s capabilities.

Rowley said reports that similar initiatives here and elsewhere in the region where unsuccessful, cannot be used as a barometer to determine success on this occasion. Later in the sitting, National Security Minister Edmund Dillon gave the assurance that there would be a heightened police presence in commercial shopping areas and city centres during the Christmasd period.

While relatives are praying for Johnson’s recovery, family members of Travis Teague, Timothy Fraser, Averniel Thomas, Che Peters, Kareem Romain, and Ramish Narine, the six persons who actually died in the accident, are coming to terms with the deaths of their loved ones. Relatives of Ramish Narine yesterday told reporters that his passing came just as he was once again getting his life together. His brother Sureash told reporters that he had just recently began getting control of an alcohol dependency that he had been struggling with for years.

“When his mother, Chanoo died he went a little astray,” said Tara Ramdeen, another relative, “He thought people didn’t care about him. He developed an alcohol problem when he was stressed out.

The people at Elite Security took him in and accepted him as their own and looked after him. They even sent him to Mt St Benedict for rehab. He was improving and they even came and gave him a room for him to stay while he got back on his feet.” Tara said she heard of Ramish’s death from a friend. She said that before she knew that her relative was involved in the accident, she saw the incident on social media and lamented on how many persons died in the accident.

She described Ramish as a person who loved children but mostly kept to himself. Relatives of Averniel Thomas, 35, said they held no malice against any of the drivers involved in the incident, but pleaded with drivers to be more cautious on the nation’s roads. Her brother Andre described her as a friendly and loving person.

“The last time I spoke to her was for my birthday,” said Andre, “We live very far from each other, I live in Point Fortin and she lives in California, so we don’t see each other every day. But she called me for my birthday on November 8, and wished me a happy birthday, and we talked for a bit. I found out about the accident from some of her church members. I was at work when I got the call. I really could not believe what I was hearing.

This entire thing has us all shocked.” Autopsies on both bodies confirmed that they died from blunt force trauma consistent with a car accident.

According to reports Richard Samaroo, had spent the night before drinking, and fell asleep on Mission Road. However at about 6 am yesterday, a truck was driven around a corner into Mission Road. The driver of the truck reportedly did not see Samaroo lying on the road and drove over him. Newsday understands that the man’s body was dragged under the moving truck for several feet before becoming dislodged.

Samaroo’s skull was crushed.

His body was removed to the Port-of-Spain Mortuary. Investigations into the matter are ongoing but initial information received by the police lead them to believe that the incident was accidental.

The three other accomplices remained in police custody. They are: a 26 year-old man of Lodge Road, Claxton Bay; a 20 year-old man from St John’s Trace, Claxton Bay; and a 43 year-old man from Cipero Road, Victoria Village in San Fernando. Police reports are at about 7 pm, three gunmen stormed into a California supermarket and robbed the business place of a quantity of cash and items. They also robbed several customers of cash and personal items before fleeing the scene in a white AD wagon.

A report was made police and investigators sprung into action.

They spotted the wagon along the south bound lane of the Solomon Hochoy Highway and intercepted the vehicle near the Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba. The report added that the 35 year-old man began shooting at police who returned fire hitting him on the leg.

Police reported that at about four o’clock yesterday afternoon, the victim was standing at the corner of the two streets when another man walked up to him and without warning, pulled out a gun and shot him several times before walking off. Residents who heard the gunshots, contacted the Arouca police.

Officers visited the scene and the body was removed to the Forensic Science Centre in St James.

Once the victim is formally identified, an autopsy will be conducted.

No arrest has been made, no motive ascertained for the country’s latest murder and Northern Division police are continuing investigations.

Divisional Fire Officer Peter Neverson said the fire did not extend beyond the store from which it originated and was successfully extinguished by responding officers.

Neverson said that investigations are ongoing as to the source of the fire.

Neverson added that he was pleased with the quick response of officers. “We received a great deal of support with appliances coming in from Headquarters on Wrightson Road, the Belmont Fire Station and the Woodbrook Fire Station, so yes it we are very fortunate to have reached here in time.” Newsday also spoke to several shoppers, one of whom said, “It was a total mess in there to come out. I heard my son telling me, ‘Ma smoke!’ and when I looked around I saw the flames.”

Seismic microzonation is defined as the process of subdividing a potential seismic or earthquake prone area into zones with respect to some geological and geophysical characteristics of the sites such as ground shaking, liquefaction susceptibility, landslide and rock fall hazard and earthquake-related flooding, so that seismic hazards at different locations within the area can correctly be identified. Microzonation provides the basis for site-specific risk analysis, which can assist in the mitigation of earthquake damage.

Noting the issue of the national building code has persisted for decades, Rowley observed, “What should concern us is whether we are complying and whether there is adquate enforcement of the building codes.” He explained that the construction of large buildings in the country conform to the California Code, “which is the highest standard in the world.” As he wondered whether the Opposition’s interest in building codes was “because of the shake yesterday,” Rowley recalled that the building constructed in Chaguanas to house the Tertiary Education Ministry, under the former People’s Partnership (PP) government, did not comply with seismic codes.

Rowley said as a result of this, that building had to be retrofitted under the People’s National Movement (PNM), so that the Agriculture Ministry could occupy the premises. He also recalled that “the last government was warned not to build the (Couva Children’s) Hospital on the Spring Vale fault” but they went ahead and did it anyway