… causing major job losses.
“We (Puerto Rico) were intermediaries,” said Heriberto Martinez … of the Puerto Rico Economists Association, explaining that while Puerto Ricans did benefit … air pollution in Puerto Rico.
Trump’s plan for Puerto Rico
Trump and …
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The 2020 Atlantic hurricane season has been so extremely active that storms are now being named by the Greek alphabet.
For only the second time in history, the National Hurricane Center used the Greek alphabet for storm names as the season’s 23rd storm threatens the Gulf Coast.
On Friday, Tropical Storm Wilfred, Subtropical Storm Alpha and Tropical Storm Beta formed within hours of each other.
After Wilfred officially formed, the hurricane center tweeted, “get out the Greek alphabet” for the rest of 2020.
Tropical Storm #Wilfred Advisory 1: Wilfred Forms in the Eastern Tropical Atlantic. Get Out the Greek Alphabet For the Rest of 2020. https://t.co/VqHn0u1vgc
— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) September 18, 2020
All three storms that formed Friday set records for the earliest 21st, 22nd and 23rd-named Atlantic storms, beating 2005 by several weeks.
The World Meteorological Organization names tropical cyclones and uses 21 of the 26 letters in the alphabet, in alphabetical order. The letters that are excluded are Q, U, X, Y and Z.
In 2005 there were 27 named storms, and the National Hurricane Center had to use six Greek letters. Zeta was the last-named storm of the active 2005 season, forming on Dec. 30. It was preceded by Gamma, Delta, and Epsilon.
Meanwhile, Hurricane Teddy is located 515 km SSE of Bermuda and is moving toward the west-northwest near 12 mph (19 km/h).
In the latest forecast track, Teddy will approach Bermuda tonight, and the center should pass east of the island Monday morning.
Teddy has hurricane-force winds extending outward up to 80 miles (130 km) from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extending outward up to 205 miles (335 km).
Bermuda Weather Service said that a tropical storm warning remains in effect.
The Atlantic hurricane season is still in its peak for a few more weeks and forecasters are currently watching about 2 disturbances for signs of development.
The post Greek alphabet in use for storms this 2020 appeared first on Caribbean News Now!.
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Multi awarded photographer and videographer Derek Galon shares the recovery of Dominica three years after being badly beaten by Hurricane Maria.
Galon shared in his Youtube channel his memoirs of the terrible devastation caused by Maria to Dominica on 18 September 2017.
“Lots of this footage is my personal, showing damage to our home at the time, and of us salvaging our stuff, and cutting a path through fallen forest to our neighbours,” says Derek
He hopes to give others a better picture of what Dominica went through and likewise share how the nature island recovered and progressed through in three short years.
The post Dominica three years after Maria appeared first on Caribbean News Now!.
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The Caribbean’s ultimate rum experience is returning this Nov. 10-15, 2020 in St Barth.
The 2020 edition of the Caribbean Rum Awards and the St Barth Rum Festival, a week-long celebration of the Caribbean’s finest rum, will return to the Caribbean capital of luxury.
“This year’s Caribbean Rum Awards will again honor the best of rum-making in the Caribbean,” said Alexander Britell, editor and publisher of Caribbean Journal. “We’re proud to partner with Christopher Davis and the St Barth Rum Festival for what will be an exciting, high-level experience tailored for the current realities of travel.”
The intimate experience will bring together a selection of rum connoisseurs, aficionados and rum distillers, centered around the Caribbean’s greatest rum bar, the Rhum Room in Gustavia.
“What an honor to spend a great week of events with rum, passionate connoisseurs and interested learners as well,” said Christopher Davis, proprietor of the Rhum Room and the Quarter Kitchen & Cocktail Lab, and founder of the St Barth Rum Festival. “What surprises me the most about this year is regardless of all the worldwide issues we are still able to put together an incredible Rum Festival program, as almost all other festivals are cancelled. People are excited to come to St Barth to visit and to taste fabulous rums from around the Caribbean.”
The event will kick off with a Ti’ Punch Happy Hour by WIMCO, followed by a series of evening rum and cigar experiences and VIP master classes.
On Nov. 12 will be the Rum Expo, a free outdoor public event featuring samples of some of the Caribbean’s greatest rum expressions, from La Favorite to Rhum Neisson to Ron del Barrilito.
The heart of the program will of course be the Awards themselves, the Caribbean’s leading competition of premium rum and rhum agricole, bringing together a panel of international judges and an unrivaled selection of top quality expressions.
Last year’s competition included a never-before-conducted competition of the Caribbean’s most expensive rums, with Don Q Reserva de la Familia Serralles taking the Double Gold.
This year’s Caribbean Rum Awards, optimized for social distancing with limited-attendance and outdoor experiences, will include intimate master classes with some of the world’s top rummakers, including Grégoire Hayot of Guadeloupe’s Rhum Karukera, Gregory Vernant of Martinique’s Rhum Neisson and Franck Dormoy of Rhum La Favorite.
“We have received exceptional support from the distilleries,” Davis said. “Attendees will be able to sample rums from some of the best distilleries in the Caribbean, and there will be more distilleries, depending on whether or not we obtain approval from the Collectivité to use the street for the afternoon.”
That’s along with some new experiences for this year, including a tasting of local Rhum Arrangé made in St Barth.
Only VIP ticket-holders can access the full gamut of experiences; there will be a number of free, public-facing events, including the aforementioned Rum Expo on Nov. 12 and the Ti’ Punch Seminar on Nov. 13.
A People’s Choice rum competition will also return this year, featuring esteemed rum enthusiasts from the island.
That’s along a pair of Rum Cocktail Pairing dinners, one on Nov. 13 and one on Nov. 14, set at the celebrated Quarter Kitchen and Cocktail Lab. (To purchase dinner tickets, contact hello@25sbh.com).
“The Rum Cocktail Pairing dinner this year is extended to both Friday and Saturday nights due to overwhelming demand and the menu is shaping up to be really special,” Davis said.
Only those with VIP tickets (more info here) will have access to all of the experiences.
Tradewind Aviation, which operates regular flights (and private charter flights) throughout the day between San Juan and St Barth, is the official airline of the Caribbean Rum Awards.
Caribbean Rum Awards partner WIMCO is partnering on a series of villa packages that include VIP tickets to the event.
“The Caribbean Rum Awards event is totally in sync with the spirit of St Barth, an island that has always been celebrated for its exceptional restaurant scene and passion for gourmet experiences” said Stiles Bennet, WIMCO’s president. “WIMCO Villas is proud to sponsor the event, and is encouraging our clients to visit the island in early November for a chance to taste some of the most exceptional rums in the world.”
Platinum sponsors of this year’s Caribbean Rum Awards include:
St Barth has been open for tourism since June, with strict entry protocols that have made the island a veritable sanctuary amid the pandemic; those include required proof of a negative PCR test within 72 hours of arrival (find more info here).
“Particularly amid the current realities of travel, we’re pleased to keep this year’s Caribbean Rum Awards an intimate experience, and so excited with this year’s impressive group of partners,” Britell said. “There’s no rum festival in the world quite like this one — and there’s no place in the world quite like St Barth.”
For more, visit the Caribbean Rum Awards or contact rum@caribjournal.com.
For VIP tickets, visit EventBrite. For a list of VIP inclusions, see here.
The post The 2020 Caribbean Rum Awards Are Set for November in St Barth appeared first on Caribbean Journal.
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Jamaica Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett has “cautious optimism” for what a potential “major upturn” in visitor arrivals this upcoming winter tourist season, he said this week.
At the end of February 2020, Jamaica had reported a 5.5 percent increase in visitor arrivals compared to the same period in 2019, or about 1.25 million visitors.
“If that trend held for the rest of the year, we estimated end of year earnings at US$4 billion, with 4.5 million visitors,” Bartlett said this week. “Obviously, we have now been forced to revise all preliminary estimates due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.”
“Thankfully, we are already seeing positive signs that buoyancy is slowly returning to the sector,” he said.
Maintaining current levels of demand, he said, the projection is for more than 1 million visitors by the end of the year.
That “would be a fairly impressive achievement, all things being considered,” he said. “This would take into account the first quarter of the year when all arrivals were somewhere in the region of 800,000 people.”
— CJ
The post Jamaica: “Cautious Optimism” for Visitor Arrival Growth appeared first on Caribbean Journal.
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