Bahamas News
Talking conch and surgery on Steve Harvey’s couch
#The Bahamas, February 19, 2018 – Judging by the size of his smile and his core professional choice, it is probably not difficult to humour Steve Harvey. However when you size up his stature and his personal accomplishments, it is likely it is more than tough to impress this multi-media icon; but recently a Bahamian-American did just that when he appeared on Harvey’s daytime TV talk show.
Early on, Myron Rolle was raised in The Bahamas and born in Texas. His parents migrated to the United States, with the family, when Myron was but a boy. Rolle was a guest on the Steve Harvey show where he was introduced like this by Mr. Harvey himself, “My next guest is just 30 years old and already his life is the stuff that movies are made of. In college he was a star football player and a Rhodes Scholar, then he made it to the NFL. Now after three seasons in the pros, he just made headlines for his latest achievement being accepted to the neurosurgery program at Harvard University. Please welcome a man who is the definition of over achiever, please welcome Myron Rolle.”
The audience erupted in loud applause.
Dr. Myron Rolle flashed a huge smile, looked a little taken aback by hearing such a glowing report about himself from such a towering media figure, stretched out his arms on Steve Harvey’s couch, sat a little more upright and spoke in a mannerly, charming and humble tone as the cheering audience quieted in anticipation.
The 4:47 minute clip has been widely circulated on social media, particularly by proud Bahamians who are overjoyed to show off the accomplishments of a home town boy on the global stage. By now, Bahamians are not unaccustomed to stand out athletes who are drawing international attention but this man, Dr. Myron Rolle, certainly does take it to a new level when it comes to achievement.
A sixth round draft pick in the NFL, where he signed on for four years as a safety with the Tennessee Titans. While attending Florida State University, Myron was fantastic on the field for the Seminoles and fantastic off the field for the pre-med program which he completed in a record two and a half years with a 3.75 grade point average. The amazing performance academically earned him a Rhodes Scholarship and he pressed paused on his NFL dreams to study at Oxford University in London, England.
Even his road to the Rhodes is a fascinatingly, inspiring story of sacrifice, tenacity and uncommon favor. Myron Rolle saw doors open to him that no man could shut and he made wise choices by taking the one year Rhodes Scholarship, which is offered to only 32 Americans each year and in 2010 he was back for the NFL draft, where he was picked up in round six.
In 2013, Myron Rolle was one of three Bahamian Rhodes Scholars to be honoured with his image on a commemorative stamp; the 70 cent piece features the trio. And he has charity organisations, including one focused on curtailing childhood obesity.
Dr. Rolle, who in 2009 had a day celebrated in his honour in Galloway Township, New Jersey where he grew up told Steve Harvey that as a child, his parents put images of strong, accomplished, men who ‘looked like me’ on his bedroom wall.
Among those making the cut for Mr. and Mrs. Rolle as suitable black role models for their sons were Kofi Annon, Booker T. Washington, Deion Sanders and Dr. Ben Carson; the former presidential candidate; author of Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story; Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient and a pioneering medical doctor, heading leading medical facilities and forging medical breakthroughs as a brilliant neurosurgeon, who also happens to be a black American. Obviously, the latter two men made the most marked impression on young Myron as he was coming up.
“So Dr. Carson was on my wall as a young man, and he planted the seed of neurosurgery in my head, early and I also had Deion Sanders on my wall so he was kinda my athletic hero. So I had this parallel road of trying to accomplish the goals academically and athletically and thankfully by the grace of God, by good work, good discipline I focused on education and focused on good principles, I was able to accomplish some of these things.”
The interview was riveting and got even more interesting as Dr. Rolle repeatedly talked about his Bahamian heritage.
When Steve Harvey asked him how he unwinds and cuts loose, the mention of the Bahamas came again and this time it was the conch that got ‘big props’.
“So I like to go back to Nassau and hang out with my family. I like cracked conch, I don’t know if you have ever had conch before? But… crack conch, stew conch, boiled conch, fried conch, conch burgers, conch fritters, conch salad… every kind of conch you could think of.”
This conch list elicited laughter and Dr. Rolle continued his remarks demonstrating his love for his Caribbean region roots.
“I grew up on reggae and soca music so I live alone and when I have a chance to have my own jam session and concert in my house, by myself I get a full lather on…I really get into it.”
At this point, as a master of comedic timing, Steve Harvey says, “well that living alone – there’s some people who can shut that down for you right now…” In a ‘round the way girl’ voice, Steve added, ‘heeeey, you don’t have to stay by yo’self. I’m lonely too.’
Obviously, as a suave and handsome young man, Dr. Myron Rolle is also a very eligible bachelor and he next shared that he has met both Dr. Ben Carson – he attended church with the celebrated physician who also wrote him a letter of recommendation – and Myron has met ‘prime time’ aka Deion Sanders, another over-achiever retired now from both the NFL and MLB, and is a Hall of Famer.
As the interview neared the wrap up, Myron complimented Steve Harvey on his fashion sense and Harvey promised Dr. Rolle that he would continue to follow his progress. Steve Harvey also endorsed the idea for Dr. Rolle to make a splash, fashionably, even in his medical scrubs.
Steve Harvey summed up the life of our Dr. Myron Rolle as well, ‘an amazing story’ and that is exactly what it is, truly amazing.
PM: Project delivers on promise and invests in youth, sports and national development
GRAND BAHAMA, The Bahamas — Calling it the fulfillment of a major commitment to the island, Prime Minister Philip Davis led the official groundbreaking for the Grand Bahama Aquatic Centre, a facility the government says will transform sports development and create new opportunities for young athletes.
Speaking at the Grand Bahama Sports Complex on February 12, the Prime Minister said the project represents more than bricks and mortar
— it is an investment in people, national pride and long-term economic activity. The planned complex will feature a modern 50-metre competition pool, designed to meet international standards for training and regional and global swim meets. Davis said the facility will give Bahamian swimmers a home capable of producing world-class performance while also providing a space for community recreation, learn-to-swim programmes and water safety training.
He noted that Grand Bahama has long produced outstanding athletes despite limited infrastructure and said the new centre is intended to correct that imbalance, positioning the island as a hub for aquatic sports and sports tourism.
The Prime Minister also linked the development to the broader national recovery and revitalisation of Grand Bahama, describing the project as part of a strategy to expand opportunities for young people, create jobs during construction and stimulate activity for small businesses once operational.
The Aquatic Centre, he said, stands as proof that promises made to Grand Bahama are being delivered.
The project is expected to support athlete development, attract competitions, and provide a safe, modern environment for residents to access swimming and water-based programmes for generations to come.
Angle by Deandrea Hamilton. Built with ChatGPT (AI). Magnetic Media — CAPTURING LIFE.
The Bahamas, February 15, 2026 – For the better part of three years, Bahamians have been told that major Afreximbank financing would help transform access to capital, rebuild infrastructure and unlock economic growth across the islands. The headline figures are large. The signing ceremonies are high profile. The language is ambitious. What remains far harder to see is the measurable impact in the daily lives of the people those announcements are meant to serve.
The Government’s push to secure up to $100 million from Afreximbank for roughly 200 miles of Family Island roads dates back to 2025. In
its February 11 disclosure, the bank outlined a receivables-discounting facility — a structure that allows a contractor to be paid early once work is completed, certified and invoiced, with the Government settling the bill later. It is not cash placed into the economy upfront. It does not, by itself, build a single mile of road. Every dollar depends on work first being delivered and approved.
The wider framework has been described as support for “climate-resilient and trade-enhancing infrastructure,” a phrase that, in practical terms, should mean projects that lower the cost of doing business, move people and goods faster, and keep the economy functioning. But for communities, that promise becomes real only when the projects are named, the standards are defined and a clear timeline is given for when work will begin — and when it will be finished.
Bahamians have seen this moment before.
In 2023, a $30 million Afreximbank facility for the Bahamas Development Bank was hailed as a breakthrough that would expand access to financing for local enterprise. It worked in one immediate and measurable way: it encouraged businesses to apply. Established, revenue-generating Bahamian companies responded to the call, prepared plans, and entered a process they believed had been capitalised to support growth. The unanswered question is how much of that capital has reached the private sector in a form that allowed those businesses to expand, hire and generate new economic activity.
Because development is not measured in the size of announcements.
It is measured in loans disbursed, projects completed and businesses expanded.
The pattern is becoming difficult to ignore. In June 2024, when Afreximbank held its inaugural Caribbean Annual Meetings in Nassau,
Grand Bahama was presented as the future home of an Afro-Caribbean marketplace said to carry tens of millions of dollars in investment. What was confirmed at that stage was a $1.86 million project-preparation facility — funding for studies and planning to make the development bankable, not construction financing. The larger build-out remains dependent on additional approvals, land acquisition and further capital.
This distinction — between financing announced and financing that produces visible, measurable outcomes — is now at the centre of the national conversation.
Because while the numbers grow larger on paper, entrepreneurs still describe access to capital as out of reach, and communities across the Family Islands are still waiting to see where the work will start.
And in an economy where stalled growth translates into lost opportunity, rising frustration and real social consequences, the gap between promise and delivery is no longer a communications issue.
It is an inability to convert announcements into outcomes.
Angle by Deandrea Hamilton. Built with ChatGPT (AI). Magnetic Media — CAPTURING LIFE.
A hardline strategy that reduced murders, gunfire, and collateral deaths
The Bahamas, February 8, 2026 – What happens when police stop routinely granting bail to high-risk suspects and aggressively execute outstanding warrants? In The Bahamas, the answer in 2025 was fewer murders, fewer gunshots, and safer communities.
The Royal Bahamas Police Force arrested 4,337 individuals on outstanding warrants last year, ensuring suspects were brought directly before the courts instead of being released back onto the streets. At the same time, police significantly curtailed the use of police bail for high-risk and repeat offenders, particularly those already entangled in violent disputes.
Police Commissioner Shanta Knowles said the shift was informed by hard lessons from previous years. Intelligence reviews showed that
many homicide victims were not random targets, but men already wanted by law enforcement and — critically — by other criminals. When released on bail, those individuals often became targets themselves, triggering retaliatory shootings that spilled into neighbourhoods, roadways and public spaces.
By keeping high-risk suspects in custody pending court appearances, police say they disrupted that cycle — removing both potential offenders and potential victims from the streets.
The impact was stark. Murders declined by 31 percent in 2025, falling from 120 in 2024 to 83, the largest percentage decrease in homicides since national tracking began in 1963 and the lowest murder count in nearly two decades.
Police leaders say the strategy also reduced the collateral damage that had increasingly alarmed communities. Innocent residents had been caught in “sprays of gunfire” as targeted attacks unfolded in residential areas, at traffic stops, and in public settings.
Gun-violence indicators reflected the change. Gunshot reports fell by 35 percent, while incidents detected by ShotSpotter technology declined by 29 percent, confirming that fewer shots were being fired across the country.
“Gunshots ringing out and cutting through our peaceful paradise were down remarkably,” Commissioner Knowles said, attributing the improvement to decisive enforcement, tighter bail practices, and sustained pressure on offenders.
Police also intensified enforcement against breach of bail conditions, charging and detaining more suspects than in any previous reporting period. Officers say the approach removed the opportunity for repeat offending while matters were before the courts.
Police leadership said the results go beyond statistics. By limiting bail for high-risk suspects and executing warrants at scale, the strategy saved lives, protected bystanders, and restored confidence in public safety.
In 2025, fewer people were hunted, fewer bullets were fired, and fewer families were left grieving — a shift police say was no accident, but the result of deliberate, hardline choices.
Angle by Deandrea Hamilton. Built with ChatGPT (AI). Magnetic Media — CAPTURING LIFE.
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