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Minister Of Tourism Connor Sponsors Miss Sint Maarten Winklaar And Wishes Her Success At Monday Night Pageant

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten – Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport & Telecommunications Hon. Claret Connor, is one of the proud sponsors of Miss Sint Maarten 2015/2016 Phausha Winklaar.

Winklaar will be participating in the Ms. Caribbean Culture Queen Pageant that is taking place on the island of Nevis on Monday, August 3.

"I would like to wish Miss Sint Maarten Winklaar much success on Monday evening as she represents her country at the pageant Read more

Mp Pantophlet Sending More Letters Seeking Information On Auc Tax Verdict

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - MP the honorable George Pantophlet is still seeking information on the matter of the court ruling on the AUC tax affair.

According to the MP, he is now sending two new letters to an unspecified institution seeking information on the ruling of the court.

The MP had earlier sought this information Read more

Editorial - Put up or shut up

Parliamentarian Maurice Lake has a point (see Thursday paper). The persistent rumours that government is about to fall aren’t doing society much good.

As he is one of the persons being mentioned who might make such a political crisis a reality, his opinion definitely counts. After all, the Gumbs cabinet is backed by 10 of 15 seats in Parliament, which means no fewer than three current members of the UP-led coalition would have to withdraw their support.

That’s just not likely to happen, also considering the criticism, especially after the most recent election, on the practice of “jumping ship” for what seem rather opportunistic reasons Read more

Notices July 31

Spay/Neuter Campaign
St. Maarten Animal Welfare Continuing through August their $25 pet spay or neuter sterilization for Dutch-side pets. Tel: 520-8887 for information and certificates. Young animals may reserve for future use.

First Responder

WIEMS is now registering for the annual First Responder (EMR) course at the Dutch Quarter Community Centre starting Tuesday, September 1, 7:00pm. For more information: www.wiems.org . To register: email

This is the crux of the issue, according to the three Supervisory Council members remaining at the STA Foundation, who said they wished to inform the public that "the STA has yet to be activated."

In developments that had not been made public, Supervisory Council member Mark Mingo, the chairman, who represented St Read more

SER: Only 20 per cent live below poverty line

HARBOUR VIEW--Only 20 to 25 per cent of the country’s population can be tagged as living below the poverty line by using the country’s actual minimum wage, according to the Social Economic Council SER in its recent unsolicited advice to Government on the establishment of “Boost St. Maarten” – a conditional cash transfers programme to reduce poverty.

The preliminary results of the 2011 Census show that some 20 per cent of households live on NAf Read more

Ohio officer charged with murder pleads not guilty, released on bond

CINCINNATI--A former University of Cincinnati police officer charged with murder in the shooting death of an unarmed black man he had stopped for a missing license plate was released from jail on bond hours after an initial court appearance on Thursday.
  Ray Tensing, 25, had pleaded not guilty in the death of 43-year-old Samuel DuBose before Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas Judge Megan Shanahan, who set his bond at $1 million Read more

Religious man attacks Jerusalem Gay Pride parade, wounding six

JERUSALEM--An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man stabbed and wounded six participants, two of them seriously, in the annual Gay Pride parade in Jerusalem on Thursday, with police saying the suspect was jailed for a similar attack 10 years ago.
  About 5,000 people celebrating the event were marching along an avenue when a man jumped into the crowd, apparently from a supermarket, and plunged a knife into some of the participants, witnesses said. "We heard people screaming, everyone ran for cover, and there were bloodied people on the ground," Shai Aviyor, a witness interviewed on Israel's Channel 2, said.
  It was the worst attack in years on the event in Jerusalem, a divided city where the religious population is more prominent than in other parts of Israel and highlighted the tension nationwide among disparate social groups Read more

Christian Fellowship Concert

DADA Concert

Dance and Art Dimensions Academy (DADA) will be hosting a concert at Christian Fellowship Church Hall in Simpson Bay (opposite Domino's Pizza) on Saturday, August 1, from 7:00pm.

Performing at the concert will be DADA students; a group of 11 trained dancers who are visiting from the US for missionary work; persons who took classes from the US-based dancers and Jamaican Gospel singer and songwriter George Gordon. Performances will include the use of flags, tambourines, billows and the piano, as well as praise and worship.

While in St Read more

>SIMPSON BAY:----For the fourth consecutive year, the Princess Juliana International Airport, SXM, in collaboration with Domino’s Pizza, will be saying “Bon Voyage” to about 30 students who will be departing the island Sunday, August 2, 2015, to further their studies in The Netherlands.
Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs, Minister of Education, Sports, Culture & Youth Affairs Rita Bourne-Gumbs, and SXM Airport’s Managing Director Regina LaBega will all address the students before they board the KLM aircraft that will take them to Schiphol, Amsterdam.
During the special send-off, the students, while enjoying pizza and refreshments distributed by Domino’s Pizza, will be entertained by DJ King Kembe and MC Suppa.
They will also receive goodie bags containing SXM branded gift items fit for college-bound students Read more

Mp Pantophlet Calls For Speedy Processing Of Business Licenses

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - The announcement by the department Economic Affairs that business license that have not been collected within a six months period will be destroyed, has garnered a reaction from Member of Parliament of the National, the Honorable George Pantophlet.

Speaking to our news department the MP noted that pers Read more

Sxm To Say Bon Voyage To Holland-Bound Students Sunday

SIMPSON BAY, St. Maarten — For the fourth consecutive year, the Princess Juliana International Airport, SXM, in collaboration with Domino's Pizza, will be saying "Bon Voyage" to about 30 students who will be departing the island Sunday, August 2, 2015, to further their studies in The Netherlands.

Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs, Minister of Education, Sports, Culture & Youth Affairs Rita Bourne-Gumbs, and SXM Airport's Managing Director Regina LaBega will all address the students before they board the KLM aircraft that will take them to Schiphol, Amsterdam.

During the special send-off, the students, while enjoying pizza and refreshments distributed by Domino's Pizza, will be entertained by DJ King Kembe and MC Suppa.

They will also receive goodie bags containing SXM branded gift items fit for college-bound students Read more

400,000 euros earmarked for Sandy Ground, French Quarter

MARIGOT--A contract signed recently in the Préfecture between President of the Territorial Council Aline Hanson and Préfète Anne Laubies will see the districts of Sandy Ground and French Quarter benefit from 400,000 euros this year under the scope of credits available in the annual programme Politique de la Ville 2015-2020.

The decree of December 30, 2014, redefined geographical areas to focus on poorer districts and established a priority list in the overseas territories, in which Sandy Ground and French Quarter in St Read more

Lake: Talk of Govt falling ‘distracting,’ non-productive

PHILIPSBURG--Government, its workers and civil society are constantly “distracted” and investors are becoming “weary with the ungrounded rumours about the fall of the current government,” said United People’s (UP) party Member of Parliament (MP) Maurice Lake on Wednesday.

Lake said in a press statement that he “strongly dismissed” talk circulating in the community that he plans to break with the current UP-led coalition and form a new one with MPs from the opposition and others from the current coalition Read more

Afghanistan says Taliban leader dead, calls for peace negotiations

KABUL--Afghanistan said on Wednesday that Mullah Omar, the elusive leader of the Taliban movement fighting to topple the government, died more than two years ago.
  The announcement came a day or so before a second round of peace talks had been tentatively scheduled, and news of the fate of the one-eyed Omar could deepen Taliban divisions over whether to pursue negotiations with Kabul and who should replace him. Omar had not been seen in public since fleeing when the Taliban was toppled from power by a U.S.-led coalition in 2001, and there has been speculation for years among militant circles that he was either incapacitated or had died.
  "The government .. Read more

Editorial - Loud and clear

The figures presented by Transparency International (TI) regarding poverty in St. Maarten (see related story) are interesting. The 75 per cent making less than NAf. 4,000 (US $2,222) per month are apparently considered below the poverty line, although everyone knows there are many earning far less and, according to the report, 22 per cent with no income at all.

The latter is a bit hard to swallow, as Government does provide some financial aid to citizens in need Read more

Notices July 30

Spay/Neuter Campaign
St. Maarten Animal Welfare Continuing through August their $25 pet spay or neuter sterilization for Dutch-side pets. Tel: 520-8887 for information and certificates. Young animals may reserve for future use.

First Responder

WIEMS is now registering for the annual First Responder (EMR) course at the Dutch Quarter Community Centre starting Tuesday, September 1, 7:00pm. For more information: www.wiems.org . To register: email UP MP Lake says too much gossip destabilizing country, not enough on building the nation

GREAT BAY:--- United People’s (UP) Party Member of Parliament (MP) MauriceLake said on Wednesday that Government, its workers and civil society are constantly being distracted while investors become weary with the unfounded rumours about the fall of the current government.

UP MP Lake has strongly dismissed gossip that he plans to break with the current UP-led coalition and form a new one with MPs from the opposition and others from the current coalition.

“I want to make it abundantly clear, as I told my good friend Billie Dee from SOS Radio Station on Wednesday morning; no one speaks on behalf of Maurice Lake other than MauriceLake Read more

How Credible is MP Leona Marlin? Problems brewing in Government.

>PHILIPSBURG:--- Member of Parliament Leona Marlin Romeo in a radio interview on Tuesday said that the current coalition government is in-tact and that she is not part of any complot to break the UPP/De Weever/LMR/USP coalition government Read more

>ST. PETERS:---  United People’s (UP) Party Member of Parliament (MP) MauriceLake is coordinating assistance in the area of social and health for St. Peters resident Vincent Gumbs.

Gumbs lives in a one bedroom section of his home with his son Read more

Mp Lake Commends Corporate Partners For Coming To The Aid Of St. Peters Resident

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten – United People's (UP) Party Member of Parliament (MP) Maurice Lake is coordinating assistance in the area of social and health for St. Peters resident Vincent Gumbs.

Gumbs lives in a one bedroom section of his home with his son Read more

Up Mp Lake Says Too Much Gossip Destabilizing Country, Not Enough On Building The Nation

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten – United People's (UP) Party Member of Parliament (MP) Maurice Lake said on Wednesday that Government, its workers and civil society are constantly being distracted while investors become weary with the unfounded rumours about the fall of the current government.

UP MP Lake has strongly dismissed gossip that he plans to break with the current UP-led coalition and form a new one with MPs from the opposition and others from the current coalition.

"I want to make it abundantly clear, as I told my good friend Billie Dee from SOS Radio Station on Wednesday morning; no one speaks on behalf of Maurice Lake other than Maurice Lake Read more

Two Robbery Suspects Arrested In Philipsburg Wednesday Morning {Video Now Included}

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - Two robbery suspects are now in police custody.

The vigilance of the police patrols in Philipsburg have been accredited for this latest arrest.

The police spokesman Inspector Steven Carty confirmed to our newsroom that the suspects were acting suspicious and one of the suspects were intercepted in tow Read more