Compere Lapin Is New Orleans ‘Restaurant of The Year’

Image of Chef-owner Nina Compton's

IN 2016, the New Orleans Restaurant of the Year is Compere Lapin. Why? Because chef-owner Nina Compton’s big idea — to marry the cooking of her native St. Lucia with that of her adopted New Orleans home — is a delicious case study in the hard art of belonging. Because she translates that big idea to the plate with finely tuned, you-can’t-do-this-at-home skills.

Talents on Display at Festival of Lights

Image: Festival of Lights

MONDAY night’s Festival of Lights lived up to its hype this year with a magnificent display of lights that captivated the thousands who flooded Derek Walcott Square and surrounding streets. From blazing up the Central Library building with a digital light display to the switching on of the lights to illuminate the square, the producers of the extravaganza at least went beyond the first half of the night’s theme ‘Celebrate Light Celebrate Jesus’.

RUGBY FINALE – Female Guadeloupe Players in Action at Gros Islet Today

Image: (L-R) Some of the action one expects to see throughout the day between the two sexes. (Photo: Anthony De Beauville)

THE Saint Lucia Rugby Football Union (SLRFU) hosts its final tournament for 2016 today, dubbed “National Day Sevens” at the Gros Islet Playing Field. According to the SLRFU, it has been a sensational year for rugby in Saint Lucia and the Union is ensuring to end the year on a high note. Local male and female teams will be going head to head for the chance to be the champions.

Mabouya Valley Football Finals Tomorrow

FOOTBALL fans are expected to converge on the La Ressource playing field tomorrow to witness the finals of the Mabouya Valley Youth and Sports/Shawn Edward sponsored tournament that is scheduled to kick off from 3:30 p.m. Contesting the finals will be Survivals and the winner of today’s second semi final penalty shootout between Aux Lyon United and Togetherness Youth. The regulation match was played on Wednesday and ended in a 2-2 draw in fading light. The referee decided not to proceed with the penalty duel because of the conditions.

Gayle In Stunning Move To Patriots

Image of Chris Gayle

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, Dec 15, CMC – St. Kitts Patriots announced on Thursday their stunning acquisition of Twenty20 batting sensation Chris Gayle from the Jamaica Tallawahs for the next season of the Caribbean Premier League. The transfer means that the talismanic left-handed opener has cut ties with the Tallawahs, the CPL franchise based in his native Jamaica, which he has twice led to the title, including last year.

Longboarding Saves Day For Fans

Image: The participants take a time out for a photo moment (Photo: Anthony De Beauville)

THE inaugural Long Board event in Castries on Tuesday saved the day for a number of sports enthusiasts who were looking for some kind of exciting activity on the island’s National Day. Fans lined the route from the junction of Bois Catchet to the bottom of old Morne Road to take in what can best be described as an event of “daring” as 18 competitors jostled for positions and leads.

Morne Stars Launches Big Fund-Raiser

Image: Morne Stars 2016 Club Relay Champions. (Photo: Anthony De Beauville)

WITH less than three weeks before the commencement of the 2017 track and field season over 60 enterprising young Saint Lucian athletes are pursuing their dreams of regional and international representation, with support from ordinary citizens and the corporate sector. Morne Stars Athletics Club, one of the island’s leading track and field outfits, has set out on a series of fundraising activities, in order to buy uniforms, equipment and shoes, and to take part in regional competition for the season.

Boxers Win 6 Medals In B’dos

Image: A photo moment for Team Saint Lucia, Ministry of Youth Development Officials and SLBA representatives on arrival at George F.L. Charles V.I.P. lounge. (PHOTO: Anthony De Beauville)

SAINT Lucia’s Omar Christopher captured the only gold medal for his country and was voted the Best Junior Boxer with two wins when the curtains came down on the Caribbean Development Boxing Tournament held at the Sea Rocks Dome in Maxwell, Barbados last weekend. Saint Lucia captured 6 medals that included 1 gold (Christopher), 2 silvers (Nathan Ferrari, Lyndon Marcellin) and 3 bronze (Leslie Joseph, Marvin Anthony and Arthur Langelier); while Kareem Boyce and JavannusFevrier failed to make a podium finish.

Table Tennis Finals

THE Castries Table Tennis Centre in Vide Bouteille will be the venue for the Saint Lucia National Tennis Association’s National Premier Table Tennis League finals today from 5:00 p.m. Contesting the finals will be Superserv Carbons and BXB Money Savers Challengers in an anticipated thrilling showdown between the two teams.

Outrage for Black Womanhood

Image of Michelle Obama

After a lifetime in Caribbean and international politics, I thought the time had long since passed when I could be outraged by any event. But I was outraged last week and I continue to seethe over the fact that Pamela Ramsey Taylor, the director of a Clay County, West Virginia, non-profit who was removed from her post after she called Michelle Obama an “ape in heels” in a November Facebook post, will be re-instated in her job on December 23. What signal does this re-instatement send to Americans, black and white? Indeed, what statement does it make to the rest of the world?

2017 – Year of Opportunity

AS the reality of the 2016 general elections manifests itself, a mood of renewed confidence appears to be noticeable as investors from outside the region capitalize on the renewed business approach offered by the new administration. The most significant and realistic investment to date is Desert Star Holdings (DSH) under the direct supervision of Mr. Teo Ah Khing, an individual with the most remarkable track record on a world scale.

The Crisis of Facts

IF you believe that economics and politics should be based on evidence, then you should think again. In today’s political times, it no longer matters whether or not something is true, but whether it is believed by the right people. Across supposedly information-rich and enlightened Western democracies, it appears popular trust in expert opinion and established institutions has tumbled. But is it possible to live in a world of data but no facts?

Trump’s Antiguan Gambling Problem

Image of Donald Trump

PRESIDENT-ELECT Donald Trump is gambling that he can advance U.S. economic interests by cracking down on powerhouses like China for rigged trade practices, but he might be dealing with a tiny nation doing the same to the United States the first day he sits down in the Oval Office. The twin-island Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda is poised by year’s end — and well within its rights — to retaliate against the U.S. to the tune of $21 million a year by setting up an online market to rip off copyrights and other protected content if the two countries can’t settle a 12-year-old trade dispute over internet gambling.

The Inaccuracies of Santa Lucia

Commission members John Peters, Gordon Charles and BrianLouisy.

MANY of us in our National Day readings would have read this quote: “Saint Lucia was named after Saint Lucy of Syracuse by the French, the island’s first European settlers, and the only country in the world named after a woman”. I dare to say to you that this is inaccurate and part of a continued gross misrepresentation of our history, as the French came long after there was a record of a name given to our island. You would also have read that the oldest record of Saint Lucia’s name can be found in a Spanish Cedulla of 1511, where a place called Sancta Lucia is recorded as a Spanish Domain. Yet there is no historical document to support this claim. You would have read that there was a Vatican Globe of 1520 that depicted Sancta Lucia, and in my research I found it that to be also incorrect.