‘Knockout blow’ The Supreme Court has thrown out an application brought by the People’s National Party’s Paul Buchanan to overturn the results of the St Andrew West Central general election which he lost to Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness. Buchanan, who was the Opposition Party’s candidate, filed an application for permission to seek judicial review of the decision of the Constituted Authority not to apply to the Election Court to void the results of the September 3 poll.
Kingston Tech principal suspended Principal of Kingston Technical High School Maulton Campbell has been suspended from the institution following an audit report, concerns over a hiring decision, and a formal complaint submitted by a board member. Campbell was suspended effective immediately on November 26, pending the outcome of further investigations.
‘Serious mistake’ The Court of Appeal says it overturned an ex-policeman’s 2021 murder conviction after finding that his claim of self-defence was not properly addressed during the trial, a lapse that undermined the fairness of the proceedings. The written reasons, handed down last Friday, follow orders, made on June 27, setting aside Oshane Thompson’s life sentence for the shooting death of Kriston Pearson at a party in Port Maria, St Mary, in May 2017. It ordered a retrial.
Union Acres homeowners threaten legal action over hurricane losses Homeowners in Union Acres, St James, whose newly built properties were torn up by Hurricane Melissa in October, have served notice that they will use litigation in an effort to force the developer to pay for the catastrophic losses they sustained. The National Housing Trust (NHT) has confirmed that approximately 40 of the 144 two-bedroom houses sustained “varying degrees of damage”.
St James residents still worried about limited garbage collection WESTERN BUREAU: Following calls from the St James Municipal Corporation (StJMC) for citizens to responsibly dispose of their garbage in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, residents of several communities across St James say they remain concerned about the availability of garbage trucks to collect their waste. The residents cite the growing pile-ups of their uncollected waste, and the risk of animals in their communities accessing the garbage, as reasons why the authorities must take swift action to rectify the issue.
‘We intend to fight this’ State Minister for Finance and the Public Service Zavia Mayne has filed a lawsuit against the Integrity Commission (IC), asking the court to quash the ruling of the director of corruption prosecution that he should be charged for breaching Section 43(1)(6) of the Integrity Commission Act. With three senior directors and the IC named as respondents, Mayne also wants the court to rescind the July 14, 2025 investigation report tabled last week in Parliament.
Jamaican man dies after being struck by moped driver in Queens A 68-year-old Jamaica-born man was struck and killed by a moped while standing on the street in a section of Queens, New York, in the United States on Friday. Dead is former corrections officer Trevor Lloyd Samuels, who was in the marked crosswalk when he was struck by the moped at East 93rd Avenue and 168th Street. The incident occurred just days before Samuels was reportedly scheduled to travel to Jamaica today. Samuels was planning to take his young daughter with him from Jamaica to New York to celebrate the upcoming Christmas holidays.
Investigator didn’t check into claims brother called victim after disappearance A police officer who supervised the investigation into the disappearance of social media personality and entrepreneur Donna-Lee Donaldson has denied a suggestion that he was negligent or careless for not collecting records related to a telephone call from her brother the day after she was last seen alive. The witness, a detective inspector, also testified that based on evidence collected by a police team, he came to the conclusion that Donaldson was not the person seen at a hotel in Portland two months after she was reported missing.
Cops probe beating death of inmate at St Mary lock-up Annotto Bay, ST MARY: The Inspectorate and Professional Standards Oversight Bureau and the Independent Commission of Investigations have launched an investigation into the death of an inmate while in custody at a police station in St Mary. The deceased has been identified as 34-year-old Eraldo Francis, otherwise called ‘Nagram’, a building contractor of Tremolesworth, Highgate, in the parish.
Explanation needed over push for vote on church blessings for same-sex unions – West President for the Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society (JCHS) Dr Wayne West is questioning the motivation of Reverend Devon Dick, pastor of the Boulevard Baptist Church, for placing on the agenda of a business meeting a discussion and vote on whether same-sex unions could receive “blessings” at the church. West noted that the issue is not on the agenda of either the Baptist World Alliance or the Jamaica Baptist Union’s and said Dick needs to clarify why he sought to introduce the matter on the meeting’s itinerary.