CARIBBEAN TODAY


 Bomb parts
 A Jamaican national,
 reportedly troubled by
 past experiences includ-
ing a stint in Iraq and the mur-
der of his mother in the
Caribbean, was detained on
April 1 by officials of the
United States Transport
Security Administration (TSA)


Bomb expert searches Brown at the
Orlando airport.
after "acting strangely" at the
Orlando International Airport
in Florida.
 The TSA revealed that the
man, Kevin Brown, a 32-year-
old permanent resident of the
U.S., had "suspicious items"
in his luggage. Those items,
according to a statement by
the Federal Bureau of
Investigations (FBI), included
parts for a bomb, such as galva-
nized pipes, explosive and flam-
mable liquids, end caps, a rocket
igniter, BB gun pellets, batteries
and literature containing bomb-
making information.
 Brown had attempted to
take the items with him on an


found in luggage
 afternoon Air Jamaica flight
 bound for the Sangster
 International Airport in
 Montego Bay. He told the FBI
 that he wanted to show friends
 in Jamaica how to build explo-
 sives like those he saw in Iraq.
 He has been charged with
 attempting to place an incendi-
 ary or explosive device on an
 aircraft and made court appear-
 ances in Orlando in the days
 following the incident where he
 was not granted bail.

 'CRAZY MAN'
 According to reports of the
 incident, Brown, who some
 reports indicated had been tak-
 ing anti-depressant medication
 and living on the streets for a
 while, had checked in luggage
 at the Air Jamaica ticket count-
 er. Eyewitnesses said he then
 began rocking and walking back
 and forth.
 Brown, who also had a lap-
 top computer in his carry-on
 bag, was pulled aside by TSA
 officers, who searched his lug-
 gage and found the items. He
 was then made to sit down at
 the curb outside the airport ter-
 minal and searched.
 Brown was carrying a
 Jamaican passport when he was
 apprehended. However, it was
 reported that he served in the
 U.S. Army, from which he
 received an honorary discharge
 and a commendation medal,
 and later worked as a contrac-
 tor in Iraq. Up to press time it
 was still not clear if he did mili-


of Jamaican
tary duties in Iraq.

NOT THE SAME
 However, people who claim
 to know Brown said he was
 never the same after returning
 from Iraq and his medical
 records were being reviewed by
 investigators.
 "He sees things, he hears
 things and he just doesn't act
 normal," one woman was quot-
 ed in Jamaica's Gleaner news-
 paper as saying after the airport
 incident.
 Hotelier Sandra McLeod,
 Brown's mother, was found
 strangled at a resort in Negril,
 Jamaica in 2005. The murder,
 The Gleaner reported, "devas-
 tated" Brown.
 The Jamaica Observer
 newspaper reported that
 Brown, who attended schools in
 Jamaica and was reportedly on
 his way to visit a cousin in
 Montego Bay, "told investiga-
 tors that he planned to set the
 bomb off on a tree stump when
 he arrived in Jamaica".
 Jamaica's Prime Minister
 Bruce Golding ordered the
 country's police force to investi-
 gate the matter. Investigators in
 the U.S. said Brown's act
 appeared to be an m,.Lil.d
 incident," but they were trying
 to determine if he belonged to
 any organized group.

 Compiled from several news
 reports, including CMC.
 0


Barbadian authorities aid in capturing int'l fugitive
MIAMI United States International Airport inter- authorities as a fugitive of
Customs and Border Protection cepted Rodrigues on Mar. 18 France.
(CBP) officials have confirmed "as he attempted to transit "Upon his arrival at
that Barbadian law enforce- through the United States en Miami International Airport,
ment authorities had been help- route to his home in Canada. Mr. Rodrigues was stopped by
ful in intercepting an interna- "The fugitive was returned CBP officers for questioning",
tional fugitive last month. to France in keeping with a the statement said.
 Officials of the U.S. State 1996 Bilateral Extradition Harold Woodward, the
Department said they were Treaty between the United CBP's director of field opera-
notified by Barbadian immigra- States and France, to face rape tions, said the case "exempli-
tion officials that Amaro and attempted rape ,. Id rgL ,, fies an extraordinary level of
Rodrigues, 54, a fugitive of the statement said. interagency and international
France, was heading to the U.S. The U.S. said the cooperation, resulting in the
after vacationing in Barbados. Canadian citizen was "vaca- arrest and extradition of a
 The statement said CBP tioning in Barbados when he dangerous fugitive."
officers at the Miami was identified by Barbadian 4


Caribbean American youth essay competition open through May 9


Entries are still being
 accepted for the fourth
 annual National
Caribbean American Heritage
Month Youth Essay
Competition.
 The 2008 contest, designed
to commemorate the declara-
tion of June as "National
Caribbean American Heritage
Month" by the United States
Congress, is open to 11th and
12th grade students who live in
South Florida's Miami-Dade
and Broward counties and have
a Caribbean heritage as defined
by the competition's rules.
 The competition is being


offered through a partnership
between the Institute of
Caribbean Studies, organiza-
tions such as Transforming
America Through Interaction
(TATI), the Greater Caribbean
American Chamber of
Commerce, University of the
West Indies Alumni
Association and area schools.
 The winning entry for
each regional/local competition
will be judged in the national
level competition and the
grand winner will receive
airline tickets for two to a
Caribbean destination.
 The title for this year's


competition is: "If you were
running for president of the
United States, what are the top
three issues that you would put
on your agenda?"
 Winning entries in the
local/regional competition will
be announced on June 1.
 Essays should be e-mailed
in MS Word format to: Student
Affairs Director, TATI, Inc.: stu-
dentaffairs@taticaribbean. conm.
Entries must be submitted no
later than May 9. Contact stu-
dent affairs director, TATI, Inc.,
at 954-802-4291 for more infor-
mation about the competition.
0


 Jamaican named best

assistant principal in U.S.


MIAMI Jamaican Hilca
Thomas has been named the
"2008 National Assistant
Principal of the Year" by the
National Association of
Secondary School Principals
in he United States.
 Thomas, a former
Ardenne High and University
of the West Indies (UWI) stu-
dent in the Caribbean island,
is an assistant principal at
Miami-Dade County Public
Schools' (M-DCPS) Howard
A. Doolin Middle School.
 Thomas has been honored
with the national award for
her work in motivating stu-
dents and faculty members to
be lifelong learners. As cur-
riculum assistant principal at
Doolin Middle School since
2000, she has shown leader-
ship in collecting and analyz-
ing student assessment data to
identify students' weakness
and assist teachers in tailoring
instruction accordingly.
 She has also made collabo-
ration with the school's faculty,
parents and students the core
of her leadership. M-DCPS
Region V Superintendent
Janet Hupp said one of
Thomas's "most outstanding
capabilities is her ability to
interact and motivate all stake-


holders." Doolin Middle
School Principal Eduardo Tillet
believes Thomas's hard work
and leadership helped move
the school grade designation of
a "C" to "an "A" in 2006.
 Thomas received a bache-
lor of science degree in zoolo-
gy from UWI and a master of
 science in biol-
 ogy education
 from the
 University of
 Miami. She
 taught science
 at the middle
 and high
 school levels
Thomas before moving
 into adminis-
 tration at
Howard A Doolin Middle
School. In Oct. 2007 Thomas
was among a group of M-
DCPS principals and assistant
principals to win five of six
"Outstanding Leadership
Awards" from the Florida
Department of Education.
 She will be officially hon-
 ored as this year's "National
 Assistant Principal of the
 Year" at a black-tie event in
 Washington, D.C. on April 19.
 The award includes a check
 for $5,000.
 0


NEW YORK Even as the
Trinidad-based Coalition of
Caribbean Rights says it will
seek international assistance
in getting sexual assault
charges made against St.
Vincent and the Grenadines'
Prime Minister Dr. Ralph
Gonsalves heard in court,
Vincentians in New York are
calling for closure to the case.
 Deeply concerned about
what they consider to be the
tarnishing of the country's
international image, a number
of Vincentians here have called
for the charges leveled against
Gonsalves to be put to rest
once and for all. Though seem-
ingly sympathetic to the
Vincentian leader, most nation-
als told the Caribbean Media
Corporation it is time to bring
closure to an issue that has
painted a bad image abroad.
 "It's a sigh of relief that the
court has found it appropriate
to dismiss the action," said
Arnold "Lydon" Charles, a for-
mer president of the Brooklyn-
based Vincentian umbrella
group, Council of St. Vincent
and the Grenadines
Organizations, U.S.A., Inc.
(COSAGO), alluding to the
recent high court ruling in
upholding the decision of the
Director of Public Prosecutions


to dismiss a private criminal
complaint, filed against Dr.
Gonsalves by four attorneys,
on behalf of a 36-year-old
female police officer.

NORMALCY
 Greg Dublin, a director at
the Friends of Crown Heights
Educational Center in
Brooklyn, said
he hopes the
judge's decision
will "bring
some sem-
blance of nor-
malcy" in the
country.
 Last
month, High Gonsalves
Court Judge
Gertel Thom
upheld DPP Colin Williams's
decision to discontinue a
charge of rape against
Gonsalves, saying that she
found "no arguable grounds
for a review."
 But Hazel Brown, a
spokesperson for the
Coalition of Caribbean
Rights, told a news conference
in Port of Spain recently that
the decision not to proceed
with the matter against
Gonsalves is cause for serious
concern in the Caribbean.
4


Vincentians in N.Y. want closure

 to PM.'s sexual assault case


April 2008