FREE Abaconian pthace's Most Complete Newspaper VOLUME 16 NUMBER18 SEPTEMBER 15th, 2008 Hanna brushes past Abaco mebicd! Storm Hanna produced winds and rain but minimal damage One of the areas that flooded from the rainfall of Tropical Storm Hanna was the Marsh Harbour International Airport. The entire ramp area around the main terminal was flooded. The runway itself was not flooded. The planes that came in during the morning of September 5 had to use the facilities at Cherokee Air. It was not flooded as it was built on higher ground. Most scheduled air service was quite limited on both September 4 and 5. Cherokee Air provides full service for aircraft including Customs and Immigration. Legal Aid Clinic held for Abaconians By Samantha V. Evans No one expects to be in a position where they will need an attorney but if they do, it is very difficult for many persons to afford the fee for legal service. On August 15 at the Magistrate’s Court in Marsh Harbour four lawyers from the Etienne Dupuch Law School visited Abaco to host a Legal Aid Clinic. This clinic is a part of the law school’s outreach program and is subsi- dized by the law school. This is their first time on Abaco but they realize that there is a great demand for this type of service here. Attorney Damian Robinson stated that many people cannot afford a lawyer to assist them so they offer this reduced Please see Legal Aid Page 13 School opening was interrupted by Hanna i il wae ae Students arrived for school on ‘Sentenber Zatall vupue and private schools on WABEED. But their first week was a short one as they were off on September 4 and 5 due to Tropi- cal Storm Hanna. These students attend Abaco Central High School in Murphy Town and seemed eager to once again be back to the routine of school. Student come to this school from as far away as Sandy Point and the cays of Central Abaco while S.C. Boo- tle High School in Cooper’s Town serves students from Treasure Cay to Crown Haven including Green Turtle Cay. Tropical Storm Hanna crossed the At- lantic for days, then wandered aimlessly off the north coast of Haiti and in the Southern Bahamas for many more days while every- one watched. Weathermen speculated as to the direction it would take and the strength of its winds when it got moving again. The Northern Bahamas including Abaco was the prime area for its forward move. In anticipation of this residents and busi- ness people took many precautions, pre- paring their homes and businesses for the eventual landfall of this storm. Residents are fully aware of the need to prepare and they were not going to be caught unpre- pared: Hurricanes Floyd and Irene in 1999 with a great deal of damage caused by Floyd and one death by Irene, Hurricanes Francis and Jeanne in 2004 with flooding from rain water with one and salt water with the other, and Wilma in 2005 with more flooding have left well learned les- sons that everyone must batten down. However, when the Tropical Storm Han- Please see Hanna Page 2 Educational forum for teachers cial school year The Abaco school year began with an island-wide education forum for all teachers and administrators. Keynote speaker was the Minister of Educaion, the Hon. Carl Bethel, who congratulated S.C. Bootle High School for having 97 percent of its ninth grade students taking the national BJC examination make a grade of C or higher in math. Shown here are Mr. Cephas Cooper, Senior Administrator for Central Abaco; Mr. Bethel; Mr. Huel Moss, Principal of S.C. Bootle High School; Mrs. Lenora Black, Superintendent of Schools for Abaco; Mr. Lionel Sands, Director of Education; Mr. David Persaud and Mr. Roodatram Kawalram, the two math teachers responsible for the outstanding BJC grades. By Samantha V. Evans Teachers returned to the classroom on August 25th to prepare for the new school year which started on September Please see Forum Page 20 Renew your subscription before the expiration date shown in the label below. The Abaconian PRST STD 992 SE 9th Terr US POSTAGE Hialeah, FL 33010 PAID Permit #2438 MIAMI FL 331 Forward and Address Correction