Cain finished third in the women’s 100m T44 final to earn another bronze medal at a Para Championships. Cain’s feat yesterday follows up the bronze medal she claimed in the same event at the 2016 Rio Paralympics.

Yesterday, Cain finished third in 13.25 seconds. Sophie Kamlish of Great Britain won gold in 12.92, while Marlou van Rhijn of Netherlands took silver in 13.20.

Cain qualified for the final after finishing second in heat two of round one. She clocked a season’s best time of 13.21, finishing behind van Rhijn who clocked the same time. Laura Sugar (13.42) of Great Britain and American Femita Ayanbeku (13.48) finished third and fourth respectively to book places in the final. The top three in each of the two heats and the next two fastest athletes qualified for the final.

In heat one of round one gold medal winner Kamlish broke the world record with a time of 12.90. Also booking places in the final from heat one were Irmgard Bensusan (Germany) in 13.40, Marissa Papaconstantinou (Canada) in 13.49 and Marlene van Gansewinkel (Netherlands) in 13.58.

Veteran TT athlete Carlos Greene continues to represent this country at para games.

In the men’s discus F11 final Greene was last among the five athletes with a top throw of 28.15m on his third attempt.

His other throws were 26.42m (first attempt), 25.53m (second), 27.79m (fourth), 27.48m (fifth) and 26.60m (sixth). Alessandro Rodrigo Silva of Brazil won gold with a top throw of 43.32m.

Today, TT athletes Akeem Stewart and Jabari Knights will compete. Stewart will line up in the men’s javelin F42/43/44 event, while Knights will compete in the men’s 200m T54.

Stewart won gold in the men’s javelin F44 event at the 2016 Rio Paralympics.

The protestors burnt tyres and other debris effectively preventing any flow of vehicular traffic at Vance River. They blocked another point along the Southern Main Road in Vessigny, by cutting down trees and throwing the trunks across the roadway. When the police arrived, the protestors fled.

The fires were set at 3 am. By 9 am, firemen had doused the flames and cleared the road of the debris, allowing a smooth flow of traffic along the bumpy, pothole-filled road. Workers of the TT Electricity Commission (T&TEC) also removed the tree trunks.

Taxi drivers have been complaining that deplorable road conditions are taking a toll on them financially as they have had to dig deep in their wallets to repair or replace damaged parts to their cars caused by the deplorable road conditions.

Councillor for Brighton/Vessigny Gerald Debesette confirmed he had been receiving numerous complaints about the road’s condition mainly caused by workers of the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA). “The road at Vance River is really almost impassable. WASA is doing some repair to leaking lines but they are not doing proper restoration after digging up the road to reach underground lines.

They are putting loose materials and no hot mix or cold mix on top of the roadway,” Debesette said.

As such, when the rain falls, the material washes away causing huge potholes.

So, although late in the day, the CJ knew about this unfortunate situation before the April 12 swearing-in. Why then didn’t he simply postpone the ceremony? And why, as appears obvious, didn’t Ayres-Caesar previously volunteer any information on the subject? Wasn’t she concerned about the negative implications of her silence for those who had been appearing before her? She now alleges that she was constructively dismissed from her judgeship, and calls in aid section 137 of the Constitution, which deals with the removal from office of a judge.

I leave that to her and the person I hear is her legal adviser, who is infinitely skilled in the subtleties of the Constitution.

For his part, the Prime Minister has now signalled that the construction of walls, whatever their nationality, between the Executive and the Judiciary may not be the best solution to the problem.

We await government action.

As for the Quinlan-Williams issue, Martin Daly and I have requested the JLSC to release the report of the tribunal that considered a charge against the then magistrate.

We note that the Service Commissions Department has refused to make it public. We will be coming back to this.

What of Ramcharan’s tweets? If judges are supposed to be among our prime exemplars, how does one view his tweets about women’s buttocks and (apparently) vaginas, made since his appointment as a judge? He is reported as having recently deactivated his Twitter account. Does that make a difference where his publicly known sexual tastes are concerned? The CJ has said that among the selection criteria used by the JLSC is “mature and objective judgment.” Does Ramcharan’s behaviour satisfy this standard? The CJ also said that an element of the “rigorous” selection process was “a psychometric assessment,” designed to assess the candidates’ “emotional balance and decisiveness.” My dictionary tells me that psychometrics is “the science of measuring mental capacities and processes,” which, although one might concede a degree of similarity, doesn’t seem quite the same thing as the CJ’s definition.

Could someone help? The CJ should also refrain from giving the impression that he is blaming others for the manifest shortcomings of the JLSC in this whole affair. Early o’clock, he threw Ayres-Caesar under the bus, then, as if shifting responsibility, wrote the Law Association to say it was the President who appointed judges. That is constitutionally true, but the President does so “in accordance with the advice of the (JLSC).” He has no discretion in the matter; in effect, it is the JLSC’s word that prevails.

And now, the commission’s attorney says that the JLSC’s May 25 release was incorrectly worded, which could suggest this was the fault of the court protocol and information manager, who issued the release. But didn’t the CJ approve it beforehand? The JLSC’s handling of this matter has been singularly incompetent. The boast of a “rigorous” selection process was clearly farcical: “routine” questions were apparently unasked, judicial choices were made which engender discomfort, absurdities and contradictions (perhaps untruths, too) taint official communications etc. Rigour should be made of sterner stuff. The image of the Judiciary has been considerably sullied.

Is there now a functioning JLSC? Constitutionally, the commission has five members, of whom three form a quorum.

But now, after two resignations, there are only three members, and you cannot, in my view, have a quorum of a quorum.

Two of the three, the CJ and the Public Service Commission chairman, are ex officio members, which means that even if they resign, the President has to reappoint them to any new JLSC.

Only if the CJ resigns as CJ or is removed under section 137 can there be the transition so many are clamo u r i n g for, and, u n l e s s something dramatic develops, I don’t see either event happening.

Hyping up the large crowd for the presentation were a number of radio deejays and announcers, but getting the most out of the crowd were the JW and Blaise combination.

Eventually around 8.30 pm, an hour later than scheduled, the Festical of Bands began their parade, beginning with The Lost Tribe’s presentation of Seven.

Patrons saw costumes that were called Catherine, Rose, Morgan, Virginia, Hayle, Hannah, Scarlet, Fleur and Aurora that were supposed to depict a romantic story of seven sisters who represent the Magnificent Seven buildings that fringe the Queen’s Park Savannah and the artist’s representation of the other side of Swan Lake with the Prince as the wanderer and the girls as the swans.

As usual these costumes were devoid of features, a thing that appeals to the more mature crowd. And once again they had that appeal.

However Bliss’ presentation of Dolce Vita, with costumes named Belle, Bombay Sapphire, Shangri- La, Vintage Vogue, Onyx, Alta Moda, Lumiere, Fortuna, Le Medallion, Santorini Sunset and Vicere, took on a Moulin Rouge setting, with feathers galore and complete with foreign music, even though on carnival Monday and Tuesday in Trinidad it is strictly local music masqueraders jump to.

Then came the big Tribe and its presentation of Once Upon A Dream.

This theme had costumes depicting Mizaj, She Wolf, Mirror Mirror, Atlantica, Poison Apple, Nizhoni, Wanderlust, Agrabah, Queen of Hearts, Mystique, Maleficent, Eve, Lyria, Shambala and Pixie Dust.

But ask most of the patrons if they saw exactly what the costumes were meant to depict, they would have been at a lost for words.

It was like they’ve seen it all before, with a bead or two more, different placement of a couple of feathers and bra and panties skimpier or with more strings attached literally. But one thing was certain.

That ultimate party atmosphere is what will draw anyone to the Tribe family as the band exudes in niceness when coming to party

The pair was able to card an amazing net score of 15-under-par 56 in the Two Ball Better Ball event, to win by four shots over the teams of Dave Rajkumar and Johannson Singh (second) and George Bleasdell and Solaiman Juman (third).

Jagessar and Kublalsingh also won the tournament in 2014, with Singh finishing in second place (with Arjune Samlal) and Bleasdell and Juman taking fifth on that occasion.

This annual event, which seeks to promote networking among the TT CA’s local and regional partners while assisting local charities, hosted a full complement of 44 teams and participants and included former West Indies cricketer Dwayne Smith and his compatriot Sean Edey, as well as Anderson Payne and Chris Pitt from Barbados who are long-standing supporters of the event.

It was a great day of competitive golf followed by a wonderful prize-giving ceremony. Ramlogan Roopnarinesingh, president of the TT CA, in his address, expressed his gratitude to the major sponsors, Lifetime Motors, Lifetime Solutions, Caribbean Airlines, Royal Westmoreland, TCL, Suriname Airways and Fatboy Coconut Water.

The beneficiary of this year’s event was the Lady Hochoy Home in Gasparillo which caters for the needs of approximately 160 children and young people with a variety of disabilities such as autism, cerebral palsy, Down Syndrome and physical and intellectual challenges.

Funds will go towards the construction an Early Intervention Centre.

In addition to the monetary donation from the Association, presentations were also made to the Home’s representative, Sr. Antoinette, by TT CA members, Abel Building Solutions and Coosal’s Group of Companies.

The Contractors Association looks forward to hosting the event once again in 2018, which will not only be the 10th anniversary of the tournament, but will also be the 50th anniversary of the Association.

Given her disdain for modern communications and her slow, deliberate pace, it shouldn’t be surprising that the author of To Kill a Mockingbird built her friendship with Alabama historian Wayne Flynt over a period of years and maintained it with an exchange of long, detailed letters. They sometimes commiserated over the declining popularity of letter writing due to the advent of email.

Flynt’s Mockingbird Songs is a testament to their friendship and to the value of patient cultivation of friendships, loyalty and the value of skilled letter writing. She wrote to Wayne that “you are surely one of the era’s foremost practitioners of a moribund art,” saying his letters “should be kept forever.” But that friendship was slow in developing.

When he first encountered her at a book event and asked her to sign a copy of her Pulitzer- winning book, Lee coolly replied, “I only sign for children.” Flynt writes, “that was our first, not very promising, exchange.” In later years, Flynt got to know Lee’s sisters and began to become more acquainted with Lee, who went by her first name of Nelle. Gradually, Flynt and his wife, Dartie, developed a friendship with the author after a newspaper column he wrote about the Lee family — and his admiration for To Kill a Mockingbird — caught her attention.

After their first exchange of letters, Flynt was out of touch with her for a dozen years. He let her know after he renewed their communications that one of his granddaughters was named Harper in her honour — and that delighted the author.

Their friendship grew as they began corresponding regularly and found many common interests, especially Alabama history and literature.

Lee adopted Flynt’s family as her own. Some interesting highlights from the book: —Flynt maintains she was very aware of the planned publication of Go Set a Watchman and was enthusiastic about it. Some critics had questioned whether Lee, already in frail health, had given her informed consent for the publication of her second book.

—The image of her as cool and aloof was far from the truth. “She was in fact empathetic, warm, non-judgemental and a wonderful conversationalist,” Flynt wrote.

She had a stroke in 2007 and moved to an assisted-living facility in Monroeville, her hometown. Her letters grew shorter and more infrequent.

Flynt and his wife kept in close contact, however, writing her letters and visiting.

Flynt spoke of the accomplishment of Lee’s signature book, To Kill a Mockingbird, at the presentation of a lifetime achievement award, and again at her eulogy.

“One of the fine moments of irony is that a novel written by a woman from Monroeville has become the primary literary instrument worldwide for teaching values of racial justice and tolerance for people different from ourselves,” he said.

“He had agreed not to write about Lee while she was still alive.

“She died in 2016.

Flynt, a professor emeritus of history at Auburn University, and his wife were there for Lee at three critical times of her life, Flynt wrote — when her sister Louise slipped into dementia, when Nelle suffered a stroke and when she was forced to give up her second home in New York City and move back to Monroeville, which she had left 65 years earlier.

As Flynt put it: “Perhaps we three met in the twilight of our lives and just needed each other.”

If, therefore, Indo-Trinidadians account for 37 per cent of the population and constitute anywhere that percentage in a profession, then such a situation cannot be regarded as dominant but would be so at 50 or 60 per cent.

The view that Indo-Trinidadians are hugely represented in the professions is related to their visibility in the two oldest and most prestigious ones of medicine and law.

In the medical profession, there are over 2,500 registered practitioners.

It is not known exactly how many of those are Indo-Trinidadians.

Certainly in the south and central areas they are highly prominent but not as much in Port of Spain and other urban centres. If, indeed, 1,500 (60 per cent) are Indo-Trinidadians, this ratio can be regarded as dominant. One commentator (Kevin Baldeosingh, Sunday Guardian, 28/5/17) has even put it higher at 80 per cent based on sources of limited reliability. While it is quite likely that there is a significant Indo- Trinidadian majority among medical practitioners, there is no certainty of the exact proportion.

However, in a column on 25/7/16, I pointed out that “in the medical sphere, there is a host of professionals other than medical doctors per se, such as dentists, veterinary surgeons, pathologists, anesthetists, radiologists, pharmacists, laboratory specialists, quality control managers, nursing professionals, health administrators, specialist equipment engineers etc.” If the medical sector is taken as a whole, it is a matter of speculation as to where the ethnic balance lies.

In the legal profession, again there is a high visibility of Indo-Trinidadians, particularly in private practice and more so in the south and central areas but less so in Port of Spain.

Baldeosingh (referenced above) has stated that 59 per cent of law firms were dominated by Indo-Trinidadians.

These would be private law firms catering to members of the general public.

However, there are hundreds of lawyers engaged in the public bureaucracy and statutory authorities, in the State enterprises, in private sector corporations and in the judicial system.

Of the total of 4,426 attorneys registered with the Law Association of TT, we do not know the ethnic balance overall in order to make a definitive statement of dominance and its degree.

It would appear that non-Indo- Trinidadians were taken aback by the speed with which Indo-Trinidadians embraced the medical and legal professions. Whereas up to the 1940s, a century after their arrival, there were hardly any Indo-Trinidadians in medicine and only a few in law. However, the subsequent three or four decades saw large numbers of Indo-Trinidadians inducted into these two professions, no doubt causing some consternation in the rest of the population. Selwyn Ryan was emphatic in his column of 13/9/15 in the Sunday Express that “the Indos now control the professions” which I interpret to mean all the professions in the land and not only medicine and law. However, as I commented in my column of 25/7/16, “Quite apart from the medical and legal field, the range of professions in existence today is quite expansive. The list which follows is not exhaustive.

“Among engineers, there are sub-categories of petroleum, chemical, electrical, civil, structural, design and computer. There are also architects, field surveyors, quantity surveyors, draftsmen, project managers, computer programmers, executives, general managers, accountants, financial comptrollers, financial analysts, planners, senior bureaucrats, university lecturers and researchers, public relations specialists, fashion and copy designers and many more.

“If, therefore, we take into account the professional class as a whole, both in the public and private sectors, can we conclude, according to Ryan, that Indo-Trinidadians are dominant and in control of each sphere and overall nationally? It would be a massive leap of intuition.”

According to an internal memo addressed to Kristy Kanick, acting vice president of human resources, and copied to acting chief executive officer Jagmohan Singh, staff are questioning a proposed relocation of staff from their present location at Golden Grove Road, Piarco to Evolving TecKnologies and Enterprise Development Company (e-TecK) Park in Wallerfield.

“An airline is a 24 hour operation and this proposed move made by the Board of Directors is unfair to the workers, but more importantly it is putting staff lives at risk,” said one angry worker.

Many of the impacted employees have voiced open opposition to the move, citing fears over safety and the possible impact on their terms of employment.

Based on the concerns of the CAL employees, on July 13, leaders of CAL’s employee Change Management Team (CMT), Michelle Highly, Anita Luckey, Ronald Sukhbir, Vivekh Pundit and Dion Cox, signed and submitted a memo to the head of human resources which questioned the motives behind the proposed change.

“Is it a fact that the choice of the location is based on a request by e-TecK to our Board to facilitate a desire to rent and occupy their facilities to satisfy their own mandate,” the memo stated.

The memo also outlined concerns over staff security and stated Wallerfield is “frequented by murderers and kidnappers” and questioned whether “any consideration was given to the fact that employees will not be able to work outside of daylight hours” and if “provisions have been made for escort security when needed by employees.” Staff at the airline are also questioning why the relocation is being considered, which departments are being earmarked for the move and management’s decision to exclude staff representatives from the discussion process.

“We represent the entire staff and we believe the CMT should have been a part of the decision making process to relocate. Notwithstanding this, we are now respectfully requesting clarification on this issue,” the memo stated.

They are also demanding that management provide a response today on the proposed relocation as well as proof that public procurement guidelines were followed.

There have been recent safety concerns at CAL’s Golden Grove Road location, as part of the present compound was recently evacuated due to questions over structural integrity and safety.

In addition three employees reported being kidnapped at gunpoint and robbed while exiting the compound over the past 12 months.

However staff have voiced concerns that the move to Wallerfield will make the situation worse.

“The number of female workers at corporate are higher than male, and the employees they are seeking to relocate to Wallerfield are mainly women. We accept that conditions at Piarco need to be improved, but Wallerfield is just unsafe,” said one employee who requested anonymity.

Safety concerns are also at the heart of reported sick-out action by CAL pilots. On Friday, 10 pilots called in sick and on Saturday passengers on the air bridge faced long delays as pilots refused to operate the airline’s ATR fleet citing concerns over safety. The long delays continued yesterday as several of the airline’s scheduled flights were cancelled. In a release posted yesterday on their website CAL said the flights will be operated by its Boeing 737 fleet.

News of his death sent shock waves through the entertainment industry and country, with many on social media lamenting the fragility of life. Matthews collapsed, backstage, after performing at the event at St Mary’s College Grounds around midnight. He was rushed to St Clair Medical Centre where he was pronounced dead. It is believed he died of a heart attack. A post-mortem is expected to be done today.

Dean Ackin, Tribe’s band leader and co-founder, told Newsday, Matthews and Shot Master J were scheduled to come on at 11 pm.

Matthews, he said, performed for approximately 35 to 45 minutes and was taken to St Clair at approximately 11.50 pm.

“Initial reports is that he told Shot Master J, his DJ, when they arrived at venue that he had some chest pains, almost like acid reflux. But he still went on stage later on in the night. While on stage he told some of the persons on stage with him, he was feeling a bit warm and was sweating. He wanted to come off stage for a short while.

“I think Blaze took over the mic at that point in time and Devon went backstage and sat on a chair. I think within a couple minutes of sitting down, he collapsed and fell off the chair but there were people around.

The Fire Services were positioned backstage and they immediately came to his assistance,” Ackin said recalling what happened.

He described Matthews as part of the Tribe family, as he perfomed at many of band’s events. Ackin added that he was very talented and a rising star.

Matthews placed third in this year’s Soca Monarch competition with the song, D Journey (Make It) done collaboratively with Ella Andall.

Many fans posted to his Face- Book wall, in disbelief, as news of his passing spread on social media.

He was in the soca arena for more than a decade. Red96.7fm also sent condolences to Matthews’ family and friends, saying he was pivotal in making it the premier urban radio station in the country. Two days ago, Matthews, on his Instagram page, Drealdev, was seen practising fire breathing. Beneath the post he wrote, “One life to live and I’m goona live it. That moment when you like wta you doing and a voice in your head says dawg you have a #beard now.” When Newsday visited Devon’s Santa Rosa home, yesterday, relatives were already making preparations for his ‘wake’. The home was busy with relatives and friends coming to mourn and support each other. At the time of the interview, his mom, Gloria Matthews, was occupied.

His cousin Clive Alvarez who spoke on behalf of the family, said that the one-year anniversary of the death of Devon’s father, Selwyn Matthews, was remembered on June 10 last month. “The wounds are pretty much fresh still. His mother is still trying to come to terms with the news and the fact that Devon is with us no more.” According to Alvarez, Devon went to work at the Tribe Band Launch on Saturday night and it was some time after midnight, that he complained of having chest pains.

The ambulance was contacted and he was taken to St Clair Medical Centre, where he died.

When asked what was the cause of his death, Alvarez said, “Still to be ascertained but preliminary imformation thus far, suggest that he died from a heart attack.” Alvarez noted, that during the daytime on Saturday, Devon was working on getting footage for videos to be used for the upcoming Carnival season. He said, “I won’t be surprised if someone still uses the footage and releases it.” On January 17 of this year, Devon Matthews, Music Producer Anson Soverall and radio station Red 96.7FM, won the first copyright infringement case based on music in this jurisdiction.

The case involved Full Blown Entertainment Company Ltd directors Kevon and Kory Hart who filed legal action against Matthews, Soverall and the radio station.

Matthews was also managed by the Ground Empire company run by Fay-Ann Lyons-Alvarez and Ian “Bunji Garlin” Alvarez. Lyons-Alvarez told Newsday, “He was part of the Ground Empire family. We managed him…He was just in Orlando with us, performing for people.

We got such great acceptance from everyone. “This is not just the loss of a talented artiste that TT was about to discover but a genuinely nice, pleasant human being. That was always fun to be around. I know he just lost his dad and condolences to his mother who now has to deal with this too.” Tribe posted on its FaceBook Page, “The TRIBE family joins the rest of the nation in mourning the sudden passing of DJ, Soca Artist and cultural advocate Devon Matthews.

We offer sincere condolences to his family, friends and fans. The entertainment and cultural sector has lost a strong, versatile talent whose star was on the rise. He will be greatly missed. May he rest in peace.” Matthews is also expected to be honoured for his contribution to culture at next month’s Arima Fest celebrations. A release yesterday said, “Mayor of Arima Lisa Morris- Julian and the Arima Borough Council will press ahead with plans to honour the contribution of the late Soca Artiste and Radio Host Devon Matthews by nominating him for a civic award at next month’s Arima Fest celebrations. During a meeting last week, members of the council decided that Matthews stood as a suitable nominee due to his consistent positive contributions to the arts and culture. The council was pleased to be among those within the borough who celebrated his third place achievement at the International Soca Monarch. Today, the council bitterly mourns his passing and it extends sincere condolences to his loved ones.” Matthews was an only child and leaves to mourn his mother, Gloria Matthews.

The recent case involving former Congress of the People (COP) political leader Prakash Ramadhar should be taken to the Privy Council to have the outer limits of freedom of expression settled. The Court of Appeal last week upheld the High Court’s order that Ramadhar pay his brother Kishore damages stemming from a 2015 statement. But that ruling should be further tested because the issues raised are too important to leave unsettled.

The case involved political developments relating to the COP but actually could have occurred in any political party.

“It was a collateral and unrelated attack on the claimants with the intention of bolstering his position as leader of the party and the direction of the party at the expense of the claimants reputation,” High Court Justice Vasheist Kokaram had ruled in the matter. Ramadhar appealed the judge’s ruling and his attorneys, led by Senior Counsel Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj, argued that the words spoken were neither referable to or defamatory of the three; were covered by qualified privilege; were a proper reply to an attack and were fair comment on a matter of public interest.

The defamation claim arose out of statements allegedly made by the COP leader and the party’s chairman at a COP National Council meeting on November 10, 2013, regarding a letter dated October 1, 2013, in which the three were accused of sending to the then Opposition PNM, information about the COP’s membership.

The importance of this matter arises not because of the nature of the parties involved.

In fact, there can be little else that is more academic than the legal implications of an obscure political spat within a political force whose time has long passed.

But in a preamble to delivering the ruling, Chief Justice Ivor Archie noted while some may say politics has a morality of its own, freedom of speech is not a complete licence. He also noted that in society, often times people take the liberty to make ‘toxic, injurious, and downright irresponsible’ statements.

Yet, ‘toxic, injurious, and downright irresponsible’ statements are the bread and butter of politics and free speech.

Indeed, the line between the normal parameters of political rhetoric and a libel is one which is regularly ignored by politicians who, enjoying certain privileges in Parliament, take calculated risks when doing so.

Politicians are allowed these rights because in the end a society with free, open discourse __ even if deeply flawed __ is preferable to the alternative: a society of censorship and silence under authoritarian rule. This is not just about free speech, it is also about the flow of information – it is about transparency and potential fetters to it.

Which is why it is important for the law to achieve a fine balance. There are clear tests within the common-law that seek to ensure such a balance is maintained and it must be determined whether these tests apply to this case.

The law must be settled once and for all to not only preserve politician’s rights __ whether they deserve it or not __ but also ours.