Daily Archives: July 10, 2017

The Bahamas is celebrating 44 years of independence from the UK. Here are a few quirky facts about these fascinating islands.

Many people talk about The Ukraine, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, The Maldives and The Netherlands. These are all wrong. Only two nations officially start with The. The Bahamas is one (the name means shallow water, FYI). Do you know the other?

Big Major Cay or Pig Beach is renowned for its porcine residents, who spend their time wallowing in the shallows. The porkers are victims of their own cuteness, however. Earlier this year several were found dead, with tourists blamed for overfeeding them.

Telegraph Travel spoke to the astronaut Chris Hadfield, best known for his Bowie rendition on the ISS, in January, and asked him which Earthly place looked most beautiful from his lofty orbit. The Bahamas are gorgeous, he replied. The deep trench in the ocean floor called the Tongue of the Ocean, which comes between the islands, is the most beautiful deep indigo colour.

The Bahamas has a weight problem even more so than the US. Almost 35 per cent of the adult population are considered obese, according to the CIA's World Factbook. For the US the figure is 33 per cent (in Britain its 27 per cent). Only 12 places are fatter, with American Samoa taking the biscuit (so to speak) on a whopping 74.6 per cent.

Thanks to sprinters like Pauline Davis-Thompson, Tonique Williams-Darling and Shaunae Miller, The Bahamas has won 14 Olympic medals. That works out at 33.9 per million residents only Finland, Sweden and Hungary have a better per capita strike rate.

OK, so The Bahamas might only have around 10 branches. But with a population of 390,000, that works out at more than 26 per million residents. Only three countries, the US, Canada and Monaco, have more Starbucks per capita.

The aquarium at the garish Atlantis Paradise Island resort encompasses 14 lagoons, eight million gallons of water and more than 50,000 aquatic animals from 250 species. Theres even a water slide that runs through the middle of it.

The Bahamas needs you. Almost 20 per cent of its GDP comes from tourism, a higher percentage than all but six places (Macau, Maldives, British Virgin Islands, Aruba, Seychelles and Anguilla). In fact, the country attracts 3.7 overseas visitors each year for every resident, making it one of 51 nations where tourists outnumber locals.

And its named, rather unimaginatively, Pink Sands. Noelle Nicolls, our expert on The Bahamas, says: Some visitors suffer disappointment when they realise the beach is not entirely pink as some doctored photos suggest. A unique mix of coral, broken shells, miniature rocks and calcium carbonate speckles the sand with pink fragments.

Dean's Blue Hole, off Long Island, is the second deepest salt water sinkhole on Earth, plunging 202 metres. Only Dragon Hole, in the South China Sea, with a depth of 300.89 metres, can top it.

The Bahamas is the third most expensive country in the world to live, according to Numbeo's annual cost of living survey, which takes into account the price of around 50 items, including a wide variety of accommodation, food and drink from both supermarkets and restaurants, clothing, taxi fares, leisure activities, utility, internet and mobile phone bills. Only Bermuda and Switzerland are costlier.

Its not just piggies. Noelle Nicolls explains: Sandy Cay (also known as White Cay) is an uninhabited island at the southern tip of the Exuma chain. Easily accessible from Long Island, it's a beautiful sanctuary for critically endangered White Cay Rock Iguanas. When you arrive, the iguanas come crawling out of the native bush to greet you on the beach or along the rocky part of the shoreline. They are harmless and will run away if you step towards them too suddenly.

Pirates, privateers and buccaneers infested the area from the early 1600s to the 1700s, wrote Ben Fogle for The Telegraph in 2015. The shallow waters provided the perfect place for experienced pirates to lure heavily laden merchant ships and Spanish galleons on to the reefs, where they were wrecked and relieved of their cargos.

The most famous pirate was Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard, who was appointed magistrate of the self-declared Pirates Republic, a stronghold in Nassau which brought 11 years of havoc to the region.

Learn more at the Pirates of Nassau Museum or on an Islandz Rum Tour.

Thunderball Grotto is an accessible underwater cave that sits in the middle of a little island (probably better categorised as a big rock) in The Exumas, says Noelle Nicolls. It gets its name from the James Bond film Thunderball, which used the cave for underwater battle scenes. When you drop anchor, the entrance to the cave is not readily visible as most of it is underwater. Getting in is intimidating, but once you do, you can swim and breathe on the surface of the water as you snorkel around the hollowed-out chamber.

You cant drive on the Bimini Road, as its underwater and is actually a rock formation. Some believe it to be part of the legendary lost city of Atlantis. They are wrong. It is just a rock formation.

A sombre note to finish on. The Bahamas is one of 58 countries that still have the death penalty. It is, however, considered abolitionist in practice, with the last execution taking place in 2000 (unlike Iran, for example, where more than 977 took place in 2015).

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16 things you didn't know about The Bahamas, a land of sinkholes and swimming pigs - Telegraph.co.uk

Coca-Colas bottling partner in the Bahamas, Caribbean Bottling Company, has announced investment of $1.8 million in a solar installation at its factory in Nassau.

The company has predicted that the panels will lower its overall energy bill by 30%, the equivalent of between $250,000 and $300,000 a year.With that level of saving, the panels will essentially pay for themselves within seven years of being installed.

According to the Bahamas Tribune newspaper, work on the panels will begin this month on a portion of the bottlers 92,000-square-foot roof, in the south east of the capital.

Weve paid a deposit for the equipment and it is now being shipped, Caribbean Bottling Company chief executive Walter Wells was quoted as saying by the Tribune.Im told it is on the way to us now, and I expect them to start installing it on our building later this month.

We hope to complete it before the end of this year. It should hopefully generate between 25-30% of our requirements. It pays for itself in around six-seven years, and has a life expectancy of between 20-25 years. It will also reduce our carbon footprint all those good things.

The panels will generate more than 1,100kW of energy, helping to save almost 25,000 tons of CO2 over the full 25-year life of the installation.

The investment has been helped by a $1 million loan from the Inter-American Investment Corporation.

Its part of a range of measures undertaken by Coca-Cola bottlers worldwide to reduce the soft drinks companys CO2 emissions and increase the proportion of energy used in its manufacturing operations from renewable sources.

In May, Coca-Cola European Partners (CCEP) started sourcing all of the electricity needed for its UK operations from renewable sources.

By making the switch, the bottler claimed it was demonstrating its commitment to sustainable manufacturing across the whole of its UK operations.

The solar farm covers eight hectares and will produce up to 5mW of energy at full capacity. In 2014, a 1 million combined heat and power system was also launched at CCEPs Wakefield site, helping to save 1,500 tons of 2 a year across the factorys operations.

Coca-Cola Femsa had already invested in a sustainable plant in Brazil, which combined technologies for energy efficiency, water treatment and solar power generation.

The factory came complete with a system for the harvesting of rainwater, and was the result of more than $250 millions worth of investment.

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Caribbean Coke bottler upgrades to solar power in the Bahamas - FoodBev.com

Story Highlights

The ghost of Tropical Depression Four is expected to track toward the Bahamas and South Florida later this week.

This system has a low chance of becoming a tropical depression again.

A hurricane hunter investigative mission has been tentatively scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.

A second disturbance could pass near the Windward Islands late this week but faces obstacles to development.

The remnant of last week's Tropical Depression Four continues to sproutthunderstorms, and a rebirthas a tropical cyclone can't be ruled out as it tracks toward the Bahamas and possibly Florida later this week.

(MORE: Hurricane Central)

Located just over 100 miles north of the Virgin Islands, this ghostof what was once T.D. Fourhadflared some healthy convection Monday and throughout the weekend.

This disturbance appears to be in an environment of at least some wind shear, or change in wind direction with height, but in an otherwise sufficiently moist atmosphere with winds spreading apart aloft to support these occasional bursts of thunderstorms.

If thunderstorms were to persist and any low-pressure circulation near the surface is found, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) would then resume advisories on T.D. Four, or if winds are strong enough, Tropical Storm Don.

The NHC has tentatively scheduled a Tuesday afternoon hurricane hunter reconaissance mission into this disturbance to see if it has indeed become a depression or storm.

But, for now, this possibility of redevelopment is low.

Whatever the outcome, the same atmospheric steering wheel as was the case last week exists this week.

The Bermuda-Azores high should keep this disturbance on a general west-northwest track.

This should push the disturbance into the Bahamas starting Wednesday, and may give a boost to the typical showers and thunderstorms over parts of the Florida Peninsula starting Thursday.

(FORECAST: Nassau, Bahamas | Miami)

The disturbance will battle at least some modest wind shear andperhapssome dry airbefore it gets to the Bahamas, so, again, the odds of it redeveloping into a tropical depression appear low.

Beyond that, the disturbance may enter the eastern Gulf of Mexico by the weekend, and would have to be monitored for any developmentthere. If anything, it could lead to another heavy rain threat in parts of the Deep South, where the ground remains soggy from previous heavy rain.

(MORE:Strange Start to the Hurricane Season)

For now, there's nothing to be alarmed about, but it's worth checking back with us for any updates to this forecast over the next several days.

(MORE: Why Long-Range Model Forecasts For the Tropics Can't Often Be Trusted)

Much farther east, another tropical wave in the Atlantic is being monitored.

This one is still more than halfway between the west African coast and the Lesser Antilles, several hundred miles southwest of the Cabo Verde Islands.

(MORE: Why We Watch the Cabo Verde Islands in Hurricane Season)

As was the case with T.D. Four last week, this east Atlantic system faces a pair of nemeses to develop.

First, dry air is still abundant from the Caribbean Sea to west Africa, visiblein this satellite loop from UW-CIMSS, showing the yellow-, orange- and red-shaded areas pouring southwestward into the strip of the tropics between Africa and the Lesser Antilles.

Secondly, wind shear increases in the Caribbean Sea. Wind shear isthe change in wind speed and/or direction with height that can rip apart a fledgling tropical disturbance by blowing thunderstorms away from developing low pressure.

(MORE: A Typical July in the Atlantic Hurricane Season)

So, assuming the dry air doesn't stifle this tropical wave before getting to the Windward Islands by Friday, increased Caribbean wind shear may do so.

At any rate, there is plenty of time to monitor this disturbance, so check back with us at weather.com for the latest.

This is a good time to make sure you have a plan in case a hurricane threatens. The Federal Alliance for Safe Homes has an excellent site that can help you make a hurricane plan.

MORE ON WEATHER.COM: Atlantic Basin Retired Hurricanes and Tropical Storm Names

Continued here:

Could Last Week's Tropical Depression Four Come Back to Life in the Atlantic? Hurricane Hunter Mission Scheduled - The Weather Channel

VW independent/submitted information

DELPHOS A Delphos couple were injured in a home invasion assault that occurred Saturday morning.

David and Dianna Allemeier of 209 S. Pierce St. in Delphos were both taken to St. Ritas Medical Center in Lima for treatment of injuries received when a man gained entry to their home and reportedly assaulted them.

Delphos Police were first called out at 6:05 a.m. Saturday on a report of a suspicious person in the 300 block of Jackson Street who was knocking on doors and then walking away. However, while en route to that call, officers were informed that a man had been injured and was bleeding in the 200 block of Pierce Street.

When officers arrived on the scene, they found Allemeier bleeding from an injury to his neck. The Delphos resident said he received the injury from a man who had gained entry into his home.

Officers approached the residence and found the back door unlocked and a lot of blood at the scene. The home was secured and a K-9 and Crime Scene Unit sought from the Allen County Sheriffs Office.

Allemeier then said his wife was still in the house and officers then entered and found Mrs. Allemeier, who was also injured, in the bedroom area of the residence.

After the Allemeiers were transported to the hospital, a K-9 search was made of the area, and the house was processed by an Allen County sheriffs deputy.

No information was released on whether items were taken from the Allemeier house.

Police are currently seeking a young, skinny white male with black hair, possibly wearing cutoff shorts. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Delphos Police Department or Allen County Sheriffs Office.

The investigation is continuing, with no further information forthcoming at this time.

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