(CNS): Complaints by bus and taxi drivers about major tour operators unfairly monopolising the bulk of the cruise ship business have been refuted by one large firm in a statement to the media. Following a petition submitted to government by bus drivers complaining about the major firms bringing in larger buses to take the business, Island Tours has stated that it is not licensed to operate anything more than nine buses with a maximum of 44 seats and it is not undercutting prices. The issue has come into focus again as smaller operators feel they are being excluded from the possibility of taking passengers to the new TIki Beach Resort on Seven Mile Beach due to open later this year.

(The Ski Channel): Dow Travers will be the first ever Winter Olympian for the Cayman Islands. His stunt is alpine skiing and his backstory is set against that beautiful, tax-friendly island of endless white sand beaches. On the flip side, Cayman's highest point does not even qaulify as a mountain or even a hill. It's a bluff, actually called "The Bluff," and it stands 141 feet above sea level. That's not a geological recipe for ski success. It was family winter vacations at Beaver Creek that left Travers with a skiing addiction fueled by competitive drive.

(CNS): Following three days of ‘closed door’ legal arguments, the murder trial of Kirkland Henry and Larry Rickets is expected to resume today once the chief justice gives his ruling on the submissions made by the solicitor general and Ricketts' (left) defence attorney. On Friday Cheryll Richards QC and Robert Fortune presented their submissions over the admissibility of evidence to the judge based on testimony from key witnesses during the three day voir dire. The ‘trial within a trial’ was interrupted briefly on Friday when the pathologist confirmed that Estella Scott-Roberts’ death was associated with asphyxiation and that she was dead before the killers set the car alight.

(CNS): One of California’s lawmakers has pushed a bill through the state assembly to clampdown on US firms using the Cayman Islands to avoid tax and divert the money to college students. The Assembly passed Marty Block’s (D-San Diego) bill with a 41-28 vote to temporarily close a loophole allowing companies to create tax havens in other countries. It will now go to the state Senate. The aim is that corporations would pay taxes on offshore accounts only if the money was made in California, said Christopher Ward, Block's chief of staff. The accounts would be reported on a company's income tax return with the state Franchise Tax Board.

(CNS): Although Durney Loxley Ebanks may have only demanded $6 when he threatened a grown man and young child with a machete, the robbery earned him six years at Northward Prison. Sentencing the man that even his own defence attorney had called “something of a menace to society” as a result of his long list of previous convictions, Chief Justice Anthony Smellie observed Ebanks’ mental health problems were complicated by his drive to self-medicate with illegal drugs and alcohol. The judge noted that Ebanks could not be trusted to be in society unsupervised as he did not take his prescribed medication and was a danger to others.

(CNS): Police have now confirmed that two men are currently in police custody having been arrested in connection with the daylight armed robbery at Cayman National Bank, Countryside Shopping Centre, Savannah which, took place on Thursday lunchtime. Police said that having launched an extensive interdepartmental investigation into the incident and examined CCTV footage a number of people were interviewed. A car believed to be connected with the robbery was found in Spotts Newland on Friday and later that same night two Caymanian men aged 21 and 24 were arrested on suspicion of robbery.

(CNS): The new managing director of the Turtle Farm has made his first major decision, which will see the cost of turtle meat triple in price. In a written statement issued on Friday evening, Timothy Adam, who has been in post less than two weeks, said the business now needs to raise the selling price on turtle meat to reflect the true cost of production and maintenance of the Cayman Turtle Farm facilities. From Monday, 8 February, turtle steak will cost CI$27.00 per pound, three times its current price. Recognizing the cultural significance of the meat, the new MD and the board said they were committed to doing what it takes to protect the future of the farm.

(CNS): Police say they have arrested a seventeen year old boy in connection with a bag snatch after a witness ran after the suspect. The incident occurred outside a restaurant at Grand Harbour Shopping Centre last night. According to a police statement, at about about 10:10pm on Thursday, 4 February, a woman was sitting outside at a restaurant when a young male appeared, grabbed her handbag and ran off towards the Maedac Texaco service station.

(CNS): Irresponsible boaters who get into trouble at sea and need to be rescued may find themselves in trouble with the law as well if it turns out they did not have all the necessary safety equipment on board. Police say that, despite all previous warnings and information given to the boating public by the RCIPS Marine Unit, some people are still not making sure they have the proper equipment when they head out to sea.

(CNS): While police investigating the shooting death of 32-year-old Courtney Spence do not appear to have established a motive for the killing, they say they building a comprehensive picture of the victim’s professional and private lives. When asked if they have any leads, the RCIPS said that enquiries are ongoing, but they are appealing again for the public to come forward with information. Spence was shot at 11:10pm on Thursday, 28 January, as he left work at Progressive Distributors in Sparky Drive, George Town, and police said that a post mortem examination carried out on Wednesday afternoon confirms the death was caused by a gunshot wound.

(CNS): Although Premier McKeeva Bush continues to promise to develop cruise tourism on Cayman Brac, the previous tourism minister, Charles Clifford, told CNS that the PPM looked at all angles of the cruise ship business for the Brac and concluded that the only economically feasible way to develop it at this time would be to offer day trips packages to passengers docking on Grand Cayman, which would include a flight on CAL’s Cayman Express Service and tours of the island. The cost of building berthing facilities, which would run to about $100 million, was not viable, he said.

(The Telegraph): A leading cruise line has cancelled all calls at Antigua following the murder on the island of one of its passengers last month. The move by Star Clippers came 10 days after the body of a 30-year-old American woman was discovered near Pigeon Point Beach, an area popular with tourists. Nina Nilssen, 30, from San Francisco, had wandered away from a nearby barbecue during an onshore break. A 24-year-old man has been arrested and charged with her murder. Carnival Cruise Lines removed Antigua from its Caribbean itineraries in January after several of its passengers were involved in an altercation with local police.

(CNS): An elderly resident of George Town who says she needs financial assistance to live is not willing to give up the property that she says she has worked hard for in exchange for welfare from government. Seventy eight year old Evalee Pars, who lives alone, told News 27 that when she went to government for money, officials said they can only give her the $550 per month poor persons allowance if she signs her property over. According to the Department and Family Services, over 900 people received government assistance and if they have property government is supposed to take a lien on it. Director Deanna Look Loy said the department has been criticized for not enforcing this policy.