bid to secure a beer and wine liquor licence for the premises.

Their application to the Liquor Licensing Authority has come up against objection from Police, residents and numerous clubs and church groups in the Devils' Hole Hill, Smith's Parish area.

The objectors feel there are already enough liquor stores serving the area and that another one would be detrimental to the neighbourhood in a number of ways.

The application was made by Hillview Video and Variety owner Mr. Frank DaPonte and his partner, businessmen Mr. Eddie DeMello.

Because of the many objections, Authority chairman Mr. Will Francis adjourned the hearing to April 7, in Magistrates' Court.

Mr. Richard Hector is representing Hillview Video and Variety.

SPORTSMEN WELCH DIES, 68 OBT Sportsmen Welch dies, 68 Mr. Peter Welch, Government's former director of physical education and co-founder of the Sportsman's Shop, has died. He was 68.

Mr. Welch is understood to have died in Tampa, Florida, from a heart attack.

An all-round sportsman, he was a Bermuda Athletic Association footballer and taught PE at Warwick Academy.

He was also director of PE for the Department of Education for several years.

And while there he started the Sportsman's Shop in Reid Street with Mr.

Stanley Gascoigne in the early '50s.

He was also a good swimmer, teaching the sport to many young Bermudians.

Mr. Gascoigne said he had kept in touch with Bermuda-born Mr. Welch since he left the Island.

Mr. Welch is survived by daughter Jonelle, and sons Geoffrey, Peter, and five-year-old Nathaniel.

VISITOR WITH DRUGS GET BREAK CTS Visitor with drugs get break A visitor to the Island was given a break in Magistrates' Court yesterday when she was fined $100 for possession of cocaine. Duty counsel Mr. Archie Warner said the 30-year-old woman had only $200 on her, which had to last her until she flew home later this week.

He added she had not known she had the drug with her and was unaware of Bermuda's strict drug laws.

St. Kitt's national Debra Hendrickson, who now lives in Washington DC, had pleaded guilty to having .18 grams of cocaine when she arrived in Bermuda last Saturday.

The Court heard Customs officers at the airport found it wrapped in a piece of paper in a leather pouch in her luggage.

Magistrate the Wor. John Judge said he would impose an "unusually light fine'' of $100.

He told Hendrickson the normal fine would have been $400.

EXPENSIVE BAR OF CHOCOLATE CTS Expensive bar of chocolate Magistrate the Wor. John Judge fined a 39-year-old homeless man $5 yesterday for stealing a chocolate bar from the Phoenix Centre on Reid Street.

Colin Fubler, staying at the Salvation Army shelter, admitted he took the $1.70 chocolate bar, but said he had planned to pay for it.

"I had the money and I stood to the counter, but people were taking so long I just walked out,'' he told Magistrates Court.

Prosecutor Sgt. Peter Giles said $2 had been found on Fubler after he was arrested on Reid Street on the afternoon of February 18.

A security guard called police after seeing Fubler walk out the store without paying for the candy, Sgt. Giles said.

The Court heard Fubler had stealing and shoplifting offences dating back to 1982.

After fining him, Mr. Judge said shoplifters like him were "a pest to the business community''.

WEST END RESIDENTS WARNED CRM West End residents warned Police have warned residents to be alert during a spate of daylight break-ins in the West End.

In one incident this week a Tankard Lane resident walked into his home and came face to face with an intruder, who fled empty handed.

Two other break-ins were on Cann Drive, where a housebreaker forced his way in through windows. Nothing was reported stolen.

"We would urge members of the public who are at home during working hours to keep an eye on their neighbours' homes and to report sightings of any suspicious person,'' said Police spokeswoman Sgt. Andrea Browne.

Anyone with information can call Somerset detectives on 234 1010, she said.

Three Somerset-area residents were disturbed by a break-in artist this week, Police reported.

Shortly after 1 a.m., a man wearing a black-hooded jacket and blue jeans was disturbed at a home on Long Bay Lane, Police said.

The occupants chased the man, who ran through a garden and disappeared with various items, including a handbag and a wallet containing just over $600 in cash.

Police believe the same man was chased away from two other Somerset homes yesterday morning. Both calls came in just after 6 a.m.

In one case, the man was disturbed inside the home. In the other, he was caught trying to climb through a bathroom window and escaped empty-handed.

There was also a daylight break-in in the Somerset area on Monday. At about 5:30 p.m., a Sound View Road woman reported her house was entered and a wallet containing $220 and credit cards were stolen from a bedroom.

Police were also investigating two daylight break-ins on Laffan Street on Monday. A 19-inch Emerson television was stolen from one home. An Omega watch and two pairs of sunglasses were taken from the other.

Burglars escaped with $1,300 in cash after breaking into business premises on Wesley Street, Hamilton.

The money was stolen from a drawer found by the intruder who had forcibly entered the building.

There were six other break-ins and two attempted break-ins reported in Pembroke, Devonshire and Warwick parishes over the weekend.

Most of the incidents happened during the night while occupants slept and on four occasions the intruders were disturbed.

Police were also busy arresting six people for impaired driving. All failed tests and will be making court appearances in the near future.

There were also 27 accidents over the weekend and 15 people were injured.

One of the accidents was a hit and run.

RECORD NUMBER OF EMERGENCY CALLS FIR Record number of emergency calls The City of Hamilton recorded the most emergency assistance calls per month to the Bermuda Fire Service last month.

According to figures released this week, Firefighters responded to 16 emergency situations in town during February -- almost double the total for the rest of Pembroke.

By parish, Paget was at the top of the list with 11 calls, while Hamilton parish recorded only one emergency situation.

The estimated financial loss for February was set at $118,739 -- $70,000 of which was attributed to the month's sole "significant '' structural fire.

Of the 65 emergency assistance calls received by the Fire Service, 45 were for fires and the remainder for special services.

Special services include all non-fire humanitarian assistance calls.

Last month, these included 10 floodings, one gas cylinder leak, one boat sinking and five road traffic accidents, which resulted in four injured casualties and one fatality.

CARTER HOUSE CLOSED FOR RENOVATIONS MIL Carter House closed for renovations The oldest private home on the Island, Carter House, will be closed today for renovations.

Carter House, on the US Naval Air Station, is expected to remain closed for about one week while the Base Public Works Department conducts general repairs to its staircase and paints it.