Mediation muddle At the completion of a court-ordered mediation in May last year, a judge at the Trelawny Parish Court dismissed four criminal charges laid against a businessman by two policemen who claimed he assaulted them. Rayon Bell was found not guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, assaulting a constable, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct on May 26 last year after prosecutors offered no evidence against him, citing the “successful” mediation the Probation Office conducted between the businessman and the two policemen, according to court records seen by The Gleaner.
UWI doors open to med students in Cuba The University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, says there has been no official communication or request to accept anxious Jamaican medical students in Cuba, but it has indicated that it can accommodate those wanting to return to Jamaica. Campus Registrar Dr Donovan Stanberry said the university’s MBBS undergraduate programme can accommodate 280 students per annum, but noted that it has remained undersubscribed over the last few years.
Samuels is new president of Seventh-day Adventist Church in Jamaica Pastor Glen Samuels was on Tuesday elected president of the Jamaica Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists during its Third Quinquennial Session, held at the Mandeville Seventh-day Adventist Church in Manchester. After being recommended by the nominating committee, his election was ratified by a vote of 113 to 40 by delegates. When called to the podium, Samuels, in a gesture of humility, stooped to wipe dust from the shoes of his predecessor, Pastor Everett Brown, who in turn laid his hands on Samuel’s head in blessing.
Comeback trail With Jamaica’s tourism products experiencing appreciable rebound following the displacements brought about by Hurricane Melissa last October, privately owned attractions are also fighting to get back to pre-hurricane operations. Nearly four months after the Category 5 storm battered sections of western Jamaica, Paul Fearon, chief executive officer of Jamaica Zoo and Waterfalls, is staring down the barrel of over J$300 million in damage.
Malvern churches get $2.6m donation from late educator’s trust WESTERN BUREAU: St Elizabeth-based churches, the St Albans Anglican Church and the Bethlehem Moravian Church, are the joint beneficiaries of a J$2.6-million donation from the now-defunct Mavis Fraser-Davis Trust. The funds are to be used to assist students adversely affected by Hurricane Melissa. The funds were handed over to the two churches on February 1, five years after the trust’s closure in 2021. The churches will each receive $1.3 million from the trust’s former board members.
Framing the future A steel frame house left standing in Savanna-la-Mar after Hurricane Melissa tore through sections of western Jamaica has started a conversation about how the country should rebuild and whether it is time to rethink traditional block and steel construction. At the forefront of that push is Modular Jamaica, led by CEO William Massias and Chief Marketing Officer Kevin Bourke, who say the future of resilient, affordable housing lies in engineered steel frames manufactured locally. Massias said the idea was rooted and grounded after a visit to the Sav town.
FEAR TURNS FATAL Shock, grief, and simmering anger have engulfed residents of Marlin Way in Braeton, Portmore, after a 63-year-old mother was brutally chopped to death inside her home. It was an attack neighbours say they feared could one day happen. The deceased woman, Sonia LaBeach Dillion, a devoted mother and a long-standing supervisor at Sampars in Cross Roads, St Andrew, was found with multiple chop wounds at her Marlin Way house early yesterday morning. The incident reportedly occurred just after 9 a.m.
‘Death knell for small hotels’ WESTERN BUREAU: As Jamaica’s tourism sector continues its post-Hurricane Melissa recovery, small hotel operators are warning that new tax measures slated for implementation in April 2027 could destabilise locally owned properties and weaken the island’s competitiveness. Hoteliers say the timing of the proposed General Consumption Tax (GCT) increase, coupled with rising utility costs and lingering hurricane-related disruptions, creates what one stakeholder described as a “perfect storm”.
Hustle to hope When Kadeem Henry reflects on his journey, the first word he uses is not ‘success’ or ‘achievement’, it is ‘survival’. A trained graduate with a Bachelor of Education in Special Education from The Mico University College, he stands as an example of what it means to rise from humble beginnings and pursue higher heights against the odds. Henry grew up in a household led by a single mother, who worked tirelessly as a higgler at the Coronation and Port Antonio markets to provide for her five children. Those early years were defined by sacrifice and perseverance.
Detective draws line between ‘suspect’ and ‘possible suspect’ in Clansman trial A senior police investigator in one of the shootings allegedly carried out by the Clansman Gang in 2017 yesterday insisted that a “possible suspect” is not a suspect at all as the gang trial continued with further scrutiny of the Roger Avenue killing. The evidence came during re-examination of a detective inspector attached to the Major Investigation Division (MID) in the trial involving alleged gang leader Tesha Miller and 24 others.