At the age of 16, Nikolas Sylvester has done what no other Vincentian has — he placed first in a heat at the Olympics! When the buzzer sounded for the start of the first heat of the Men’s Freestyle 50 m, Sylvester jumped right into the pool and swam his way into our record books, while achieving a personal best time of 25.64 seconds. Vincentians have a soft spot for this young man and have been hoping for the very best for him, especially since his recent personal loss.{{more}} Congrats, Nikolas, you gave the entire country something to rejoice about; well done! May this be the first of many wins on the world stage.

The Employees of Coreas Food Mart are all smiles now that their minimart has reopened, “better and stronger” than before. One year ago, as they watched their place of employment burn to the ground, they probably thought that their jobs were up in the air, just like the smoke. Hats off to Coreas Hazells Inc for keeping their word and not laying off workers in the year that it took them to rebuild. The employees now must reciprocate and express their appreciation by working diligently and honestly to ensure the success and growth of the business.

Vincentian children are taught from a very early age that manners and behaviour take you through the world. That is why it is so perplexing that Laverne “Gypsy” Phillips was pounced upon by the members of her own party, just for saying thanks! It now seems that among a certain set, saying thank you to the Prime Minister for a thoughtful gesture is akin to heresy. So poor Gypsy, already having to cope with the stress of a serious medical issue, had to divert energy and attention from getting well to placating a throng of petty, bitter people, whose nasty jabs and hurtful taunts on social media are examples of why Cybercrime legislation is needed in this country.

Venus Nanton did not see the garbage truck coming, neither did she hear it. All she knew was that it reversed on to her, damaging her legs and pelvis. Now the unemployed woman is flat on her back at the hospital, wondering just what will be her fate.

I would ask the Opposition NDP why did they bother to come to Parliament if they knew they were not prepared to debate the Cybercrime Bill. Their obvious unfamiliarity with the contents of the Bill showed them up very badly, compared with the members of the Government side who were all in good form. Perhaps joining the protestors outside to beef up the numbers there would have made more sense.

Media Watch

We are waiting to see if Flow is going to refund Cable TV subscribers for the number of days they have blocked channel 146 – NBC, because of the Olympics. If you sell subscribers a channel as part of package and that channel is not available for several days, we think subscribers are owed a refund!