Cayman Islands

The offshore funds where Mitt Romney has millions of dollars in personal holdings are commonly used by US investment firms to attract foreign money and pension funds, financial industry professionals said yesterday. The Republican presidential candidate has a portion of his personal wealth invested in funds set up by his former employer, Bain Capital, that are registered in the Cayman Islands. Firms such as Bain frequently set up shop in the Caymans and other tax havens to attract foreign investors who do not want to pay taxes to the United States, or American pension and endowment funds that...

By Paul E. Kandarian, Globe Correspondent Curacao , the largest of the Caribbean's ABC islands -- Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao -- took top honors as the favorite Caribbean destination in the 2012 About.com Readers' Choice Awards. The island won the title after month-long voting closed on March 21, beating finalists Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos and the Cayman Islands. Curacao got 5,288 votes. Now in its fifth year, the About.com readers' awards honors the best products, features and services across more than a dozen categories, ranging from technology to parenting.

By Paul E. Kandarian, Globe Correspondent Curacao , the largest of the Caribbean's ABC islands -- Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao -- took top honors as the favorite Caribbean destination in the 2012 About.com Readers' Choice Awards. The island won the title after month-long voting closed on March 21, beating finalists Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos and the Cayman Islands. Curacao got 5,288 votes. Now in its fifth year, the About.com readers' awards honors the best products, features and services across more than a dozen categories, ranging from technology to parenting.

Just a few days after John Lyons was spotted dining at Towne with Jim Belushi, he was spied Monday dining with Dan Aykroyd and his wife, actress Donna Dixon. Lyons is, of course, the brother of Towne Stove and Spirits owner Patrick Lyons. . . . SBLI president Bob Sheridan took 100 of his most productive employees to the Cayman Islands over the weekend, along with company spokesman Tedy Bruschi. . . . Boston Casting sent out a note Monday seeking last-minute extras for the local filming of "Randy to the Rescue," a TLC spin-off of "Say Yes to the Dress.

GRAND CAYMAN, Cayman Islands - Roland's Garden is one of the most unusual restaurants you will ever visit. It has no menu, no set prices, no alcohol (bringing your own is allowed), no roof, and no walls. And the food is terrific. Roland Schoefer, the chef and owner, owned restaurants and a nightclub in his native Heidelberg, Germany. He went to the United States to cook at a German restaurant in Monterey, Calif., then moved to the Cayman Islands, a British Overseas Territory, where he cooked in a number of restaurants before "retiring" to his funky house near the beach with a tropical garden...

Just a few days after John Lyons was spotted dining at Towne with Jim Belushi, he was spied Monday dining with Dan Aykroyd and his wife, actress Donna Dixon. Lyons is, of course, the brother of Towne Stove and Spirits owner Patrick Lyons. . . . SBLI president Bob Sheridan took 100 of his most productive employees to the Cayman Islands over the weekend, along with company spokesman Tedy Bruschi. . . . Boston Casting sent out a note Monday seeking last-minute extras for the local filming of "Randy to the Rescue," a TLC spin-off of "Say Yes to the Dress.

A Norwegian prosecutor has charged Houston-based offshore drilling company Transocean with evading taxes worth $1.8 billion. The charges announced Wednesday against Transocean Inc. and Transocean Offshore Deepwater Drilling Inc. are related to the sale of 12 oil rigs 10 years ago by their Norwegian subsidiary Transocean ASA. The prosecutor says the companies operate from Houston but are registered in the Cayman Islands and Delaware....

KINGSTON, Jamaica -- Hurricane Dean pummeled Jamaica with gusting winds and torrential rains yesterday after the prime minister made a last-minute plea for residents to abandon their homes and head for shelter. Many residents ignored the call, however, while tourists holed up in resorts with hurricane-proof walls. Dean, which had already killed eight people on its destructive march across the Caribbean, triggered evacuation calls from the Cayman Islands to Texas. Cruise ships changed course to avoid the storm, but some tourists in Jamaica could not get away before the island closed its airports...

OCT. 10-NOV. 20 PITTSBURGH Pittsburgh 250 Festival of Lights: On Oct. 10, Pittsburgh flips the switch on its second annual citywide light show, which features projections of complicated designs on prominent buildings. During last year's event, some of the works were so textured that many visitors mistook the images for stained glass. This year, the outdoor exhibit has expanded to the city's Oakland district, and 20 local churches and synagogues will be illuminated.

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic -- Alarmed tourists jammed Caribbean airports for flights out of Hurricane Dean's path yesterday as the monster storm began sweeping past the Dominican Republic and Haiti and threatened to engulf Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. The Category 4 storm's effects could be felt yesterday in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, where a boy was pulled into the ocean and drowned while watching waves, the Dominican emergency operations center reported.

The offshore funds where Mitt Romney has millions of dollars in personal holdings are commonly used by US investment firms to attract foreign money and pension funds, financial industry professionals said yesterday. The Republican presidential candidate has a portion of his personal wealth invested in funds set up by his former employer, Bain Capital, that are registered in the Cayman Islands. Firms such as Bain frequently set up shop in the Caymans and other tax havens to attract foreign investors who do not want to pay taxes to the United States, or American pension and endowment funds that...

IRMO, S.C. – Mitt Romney has a portion of his fortune stored in offshore accounts, according to an ABC News report tonight that is stoking calls for him to release his income tax returns. The former Massachusetts governor has as much as $8 million invested in at least 12 funds listed on a Cayman Islands registry, according to the ABC report. The GOP presidential candidate also has an investment valued at between $5 million and $25 million that securities records list as having been housed offshore in the Caymans, which is...

Mary Lee Rowe, a psychologist in Massachusetts agencies who worked with individuals with mental and physical disabilities, died Sept. 2 in Riverside Regional Medical Center in Newport News, Va., of complications of chronic fatigue syndrome. She was 67 and lived in Gloucester Point, Va. Ms. Rowe, who spent most of her career in Greater Boston, provided a voice for her clients when that was not easy to do, said her husband, Eric Rosenfeld. "Mary always advocated for the human rights of her clients," her husband said.

A Norwegian prosecutor has charged Houston-based offshore drilling company Transocean with evading taxes worth $1.8 billion. The charges announced Wednesday against Transocean Inc. and Transocean Offshore Deepwater Drilling Inc. are related to the sale of 12 oil rigs 10 years ago by their Norwegian subsidiary Transocean ASA. The prosecutor says the companies operate from Houston but are registered in the Cayman Islands and Delaware....

GRAND CAYMAN, Cayman Islands - Roland's Garden is one of the most unusual restaurants you will ever visit. It has no menu, no set prices, no alcohol (bringing your own is allowed), no roof, and no walls. And the food is terrific. Roland Schoefer, the chef and owner, owned restaurants and a nightclub in his native Heidelberg, Germany. He went to the United States to cook at a German restaurant in Monterey, Calif., then moved to the Cayman Islands, a British Overseas Territory, where he cooked in a number of restaurants before "retiring" to his funky house near the beach with a tropical garden...

OCT. 10-NOV. 20 PITTSBURGH Pittsburgh 250 Festival of Lights: On Oct. 10, Pittsburgh flips the switch on its second annual citywide light show, which features projections of complicated designs on prominent buildings. During last year's event, some of the works were so textured that many visitors mistook the images for stained glass. This year, the outdoor exhibit has expanded to the city's Oakland district, and 20 local churches and synagogues will be illuminated.