Bravery awards seek local heroes

The Bermuda Bravery Award Association is once again looking for heroes. Members of the public have until September 27 to nominate courageous men, women or children who have risked their lives for others.

In the past, nominees have included lifeguards, Police officers or members of the public who prevented robberies.

Bermuda Bravery Awards chairman Mark Selley said entries should briefly detail the event which spurred the nomination in writing and list the people involved along with contact numbers.

He said the awards are presented annually for acts of bravery and are given to people not only in the service of saving lives, like Police Officers or members of the Bermuda Fire Service, but civilians as well.

Mr. Selley said anyone wishing to nominate a member of the public should contact him at 334-8448 or 293-3121 for more information. A panel sorts through the nominations once received and selected winners will receive cedar-framed awards at a Government House ceremony at the end of October.

Mr. Selley said every nomination will be investigated with the Police or Emergency Services to verify for authenticity.

Cendant to buy Wyndham for $100mil

NEW YORK (Bloomberg) ? Cendant Corp., owner of the Days Inn and Century 21 brands, will acquire the Wyndham hotel brand and franchise system to enter the upscale lodging sector.

Franchise agreements for 82 hotels and management contracts for 29 hotels are included under the agreement with Wyndham International Inc., an affiliate of the Blackstone Group, New York-based Cendant said yesterday in a statement on PR Newswire.

The acquisition also includes the worldwide rights to the Wyndham brand for timeshare development and sales. Cendant is not acquiring any properties as part of this transaction, it said. Wyndham hotels operates one property in Bermuda, the former Sonesta Beach hotel.

Visitor fined $1,000 for cannabis

A Boston visitor was fined $1,000 after pleading guilty to importing last week 1.51 grams of cannabis.

Benjamin Moore, 20, was arrested by Police at the Airport on September 8 on suspicion of importing a controlled drug.

Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo heard that after he cleared Customs his behaviour aroused the suspicion of Customs officers and he was called over to the secondary inspection area and asked if he had any drugs.

Moore admitted to having narcotics, saying: ?I have a little marijuana in bag.? After he was searched by officers an object was found containing the contraband. Mr. Tokunbo fined Moore $1,000 to be paid immediately.

Weaving cycle rider off the road for a year

A motorbike rider who was having trouble driving in a straight line was found to be almost twice over the drink-drive alcohol limit when stopped by Police.

James Thomas Patten, 35, pleaded guilty to the offence when he appeared at Magistrates? Court in Hamilton.

Police officers stopped Patten after watching him ride a bike in the area of Trimingham Hill.

?The officers saw that he was having difficulty maintaining a straight course,? said Crown counsel Anthony Blackman.

Patten?s eyes were glazed and his speech was slurred but he told the officers he had not been drinking.

When he gave a breath specimen it was found that there were 152 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood, almost double the legal limit of 80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood.

Patten, of Paget Lane, Paget was fined $1,000 and disqualified from driving for 12 months.

Speeder nabbed for drunk driving

A Police speed trap snared more than a speeding motorcyclist on North Shore Road in Hamilton Parish when officers pulled over Paulo Botelho after clocking him doing 65 kph.

The 37-year-old from Radnor Road, Hamilton Parish, admitted to the officers that he had drunk a few beers that evening.

When he was taken to Hamilton Police station, Botelho was found to be twice over the legal drink-drive limit.

He gave a breath sample with 160 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood. The legal limit is 80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood.

Appearing before Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner at the Magistrates? Court in Hamilton, Botelho was fined $1,000 and disqualified from driving for 12 months.