The Weekly Gleaner back issues from November 2008:
Father accidentally shoots daughter
Nov 06, 2008; ... A PALL of gloom is hovering over the Immaculate Conception High School community after the tragic death of its head girl on Sunday. Pia Phillips died in hospital Sunday morning after she had been accidentally shot by her father at their Havendale, St Andrew, home the night ...
Tough economy forces parents to trim budgets
Nov 06, 2008; ... WITH COMMODITY prices soaring and the sector promising no relief before year end, parents in western Jamaica have had to make significant sacrifices for their children. A group of six parents who spoke with The Weekly Gleaner recently revealed that chief among the list of items that have ...
'We support abortion'
Nov 06, 2008; ... IN A departure from the Church's conservative position, at least one religious organisation has endorsed the broad provisions in the Termination of Pregnancy Act, otherwise called the abortion law. The United Church of Jamaica and The Cayman Islands says it supports the recommendations ...
Dismissal without merit, says Barrett
Nov 06, 2008; ... THE FORMER chief executive officer of the National Health Fund (NHF), Rae Barrett, is insisting that he did nothing untoward to warrant his dismissal from the NHF. Responding to media reports for the first time since the issue came to light, Barrett said he had nothing to do with the ...
African-Canadians jubilant
Nov 06, 2008; ... WITH SHOUTS of jubilation, African-Canadians ushered in the election of Senator Barack Obama as the president-elect of the United States of America, the first African-American to do so. Gathered in homes with friends and at restaurants with well-wishers, the palpable anxiety of the ...
Mark Shields under fire
Nov 06, 2008; ... THE POLICE Officers' Association (POA) is to meet shortly to discuss statements made by crime chief Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Mark Shields. On Thursday, The Weekly Gleaner quoted Shields as saying "we were not brought here to solve the crime problem." Shields spoke to ...
No prison rehab for rapists
Nov 06, 2008; ... A FORMER prison doctor has called for inmates convicted of sex crimes to undergo intensive therapy before they are released into society. "Anybody who rapes has a psychological problem. It is a serious illness," argued Dr Raymoth Notice, who served in the penal system for several ...
US$10m 'ease the credit crunch' window for businesses
Nov 06, 2008; ... JAMAICAN MANUFACTURERS said Wednesday, October 29, that a US$10 million financing window opened for businesses was a welcome ease on tightened credit. JMA president Omar Azan also said that the loan terms were attractive. The Ex-Im Bank is offering Liborbased loans priced at a ...
Ja goes for coal
Nov 06, 2008; ... Supply problems move LNG from top of energy mix JAMAICA'S INABILITY to source LNG has forced the Golding administration to abandon the commodity as the primary energy source for the country's development and instead look to coal as its key fuel source, the energy minister, Clive ...
H&L planning holiday blitz to rescue profits
Nov 06, 2008; ... HARDWARE AND Lumber Limited is projecting that its markets will continue to soften into the high shopping season, but says it will ratchet up its marketing campaign to "stimulate consumer interest" over the Christmas and New Year holidays, traditionally one of its most lucrative ...
Harmony Cove will find capital, says Hylton
Nov 06, 2008; ... CHAIRMAN OF Harmonisation Limited, handlers of the Harmony Cove luxury resort project, Patrick Hylton, is upbeat about financing for the US$2 billion project in the face of a global downturn, saying the project won't need to tap the browbeaten capital markets for funds. "Remember, the ...
JNBS reassures investors at wealth creation session
Nov 06, 2008; ... NEW YORK CITY, NY: JAMAICA NATIONAL Building Society (JNBS) investors should take heart that they were relatively insulated from the impact of the global economic crisis, according to its general manager, Earl Jarrett, as he sought to reassure wary investors at a Wealth Creation ...
Cable and Wireless eyes Nov 15 for launch of 3G network
Nov 06, 2008; ... CABLE AND Wireless Jamaica (C&WJ) is to roll out its cutting edge 3G cellular network on November 15, according to a top executive at the one-time monopoly telecoms. Speaking at the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica's Job Creation Awards ceremony at the Terra Nova hotel in St ...
Of doctors and gods
Nov 06, 2008; ... YEARS AGO, a popular columnist wrote an essay berating the office procedures of one doctor who earned his ire. It had many misconceptions and generally portrayed doctors as uncaring, arrogant, money-oriented people. Now I see where the actions of some doctors have inspired a recent piece titled, ...
No more tax excuses
Nov 06, 2008; ... EDITORIAL THE EXTENSIVE and, in terms of the percentages of penalties and interest forgiven, extended tax amnesty ended Friday, November 31, and there is no delinquent taxpayer who can put forward a plausible excuse for not taking advantage of the break. For not only did the ...
Lucky Dube remembered with RETROSPECTIVE
Nov 06, 2008; ... ONE YEAR after he was murdered in the streets of Johannesburg, South African reggae singer Lucky Dube is being remembered by record company Rykodisc with Retrospective, a two-disc set that covers his career. Retrospective was released in the United States on October 21. One of ...
Bolt Man of the Year 2008
Nov 13, 2008; ... Olympian cops Gleaner's top award USAIN BOLT'S trophy cabinet is getting awfully packed. After months of receiving national gold medals, honours and dozens of gifts and prizes, 'Lightning Bolt' took home another August award Monday when he was named The Gleaner's Man of the Year ...
Portia pushes for sex offences debate
Nov 13, 2008; ... OPPOSITION LEADER Portia Simpson Miller is demanding that Parliament move swiftly to table and debate legislation to tackle sex offenders. Speaking in Parliament on Tuesday, November 4, Simpson Miller said women and children were living in fear because of an increase in sexual attacks ...
McLean vows to make Jamaica a safer place
Nov 13, 2008; ... JOHN MCLEAN, Assistant Commissioner of Police in Jamaica, was in Toronto recently as special guest at a fund-raising dinner, which was hosted by Citizens for the Advancement of Community Development (CACD). During his address to the gathering, the assistant commissioner covered a wide ...
Lennox Lewis honoured by American Friends of Jamaica
Nov 13, 2008; ... THE AMERICAN Friends of Jamaica (AFJ), marked its 27th Annual Benefit Gala and Auction with an evening of pure elegance on Thursday, November 6, at the Gotham Hall in midtown Manhattan. One aim of the annual black tie event is to link individuals from the private and public sectors, ...
FSC approves Blue Cross deal
Nov 13, 2008; ... SAGICOR LIFE Jamaica has got the go-ahead from regulators to acquire Blue Cross of Jamaica's health insurance portfolio, but still needs the imprimatur of Finance Minister Audley Shaw before it can declare the transaction a done deal. "This agreement has been approved by the Financial ...
John Lynch leaves Sandals
Nov 13, 2008; ... JOHN LYNCH, the executive vice- president for worldwide sales in Unique Vacations, left the company Friday, November 7, after 16 years with the Sandals Group. An internal memo on Wednesday, November 5, advised staff that Lynch, who is also chairman of the Jamaica Tourist Board, was ...
Truck in new sand or wait 100 years
Nov 13, 2008; ... FREDERICK MOE, project manager and partner in the $8 billion Felicitas development, says the project will remain on hold until the 500 truckloads of stolen sand are recovered. But, if the police fail to track down the stolen sand, the investors would have up to a 100-year wait for new ...
A vote of low confidence
Nov 13, 2008; ... IN A vote of low confidence, Moody's rating agency has put Jamaica on notice for a downgrade, saving it fears the global economic downturn will be too much for the country to handle. It has put Jamaica on watch for three months the period of reassessment. Indeed, there was a ...
The changing face of mobile
Nov 13, 2008; ... TWO OF Jamaica's largest telecommunications companies have rebranded, one to take advantage of a name that is a giant mobile phone provider in this hemisphere, the other to distance itself from its history in search of a new beginning. The third, and by far the most dominant by market ...
NCB grows profit to $8.7 billion
Nov 13, 2008; ... Despite write-down of $1.2b by subsidiary NATIONAL COMMERCIAL Bank (NCB) Jamaica Limited has reported a strong year-end performance, chalking up a 32 per cent increase in profits, in the face of a challenging financial environment that company executives say is likely to remain within ...
Celine wants US$1.5 m for Air J Jazz and Blues
Nov 06, 2008; ... MEGA INTERNATIONAL star, Celine Dion, requested J$lll million (US$1.5 million) to perform at next year's instalment of the Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival. The organisers, however, were unable to match the singer's request, so fans of the chart-topping artiste will have to wait for ...
Caribbean told: Don't expect change now
Nov 06, 2008; ... MISSOURI (CMC): THE CARIBBEAN, and Cuba in particular, should not expect immediate changes in United States foreign policy in the wake of a newly elected United States president, an internationally acclaimed political pollster has suggested. John Zogby, founder of Zogby ...
Grenadian ambassador wants US official withdrawn
Nov 06, 2008; ... ST GEORGE'S, Grenada (CMC): A GRENADIAN diplomat wants the United States government to recali its representative in St George's, because he feels that the official allowed herself to become involved in this country's domestic politics. Ambassador to the International Maritime ...
OAS calls for CARICOM to speak up
Nov 06, 2008; ... PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC): THE 15-MEMBER Caribbean Community (CARICOM) should use the Summit of the Americas being hosted next April as an opportunity to establish itself as a more significant voice in the hemisphere, a senior official of the Organisation of American States (OAS) has ...
Canadian Professor hopes Obama's presidential race will awaken Canadians
Nov 06, 2008; ... TORONTO: A CANADIAN scholar hopes Senator Barack Obama's historic run for presidency will mobilise African Canadians to begin to ask tough questions here in Canada. " ... It forces all of us to begin to think about the fact that one of us, a person of colour, a Canadian of colour, ...
Late Antigua premier elevated to hero status
Nov 06, 2008; ... ST JOHNS, Antigua (CMC): ANTIGUA AND Barbuda on Monday honoured the memory of its late premier, Sir George Walter, who was elevated to the status of hero during national independence celebrations here, only the fifth person to be named hero on the island. Sir George passed away ...
Immigrants creating headaches in Barbados
Nov 06, 2008; ... BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC): BARBADOS' AMBASSADOR to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has blamed the immigration of nationals from across the region for increasing the burden on the country's social services, according to a report in a local newspaper. Ambassador Denis Kellman ...
Courts now open in NY
Nov 06, 2008; ... NYC: COURTS CARIBBEAN has officially set foot in the U.S. The well-known Caribbean furniture and appliance chain opened its newest store in the heart of Caribbean America - Brooklyn, New York, last Thursday. Brooklyn Borough President, Marty Markowitz declared October 30 "Courts ...
Help for Haiti
Nov 06, 2008; ... NYC MORE ASSISTANCE is on the way for hurricane-ravaged Haiti. Deputy Majority Leader for the New York City Council, Leroy Comrie has completed a local humanitarian initiative to solicit donations of food, clothing and supplies for the Caribbean country. The donated supplies, ...
Harper appoints new federal cabinet
Nov 06, 2008; ... TORONTO, CANADA; PRIME MINISTER Stephen Harper on Thursday appointed a new federal Cabinet charged with protecting Canadians in a time of increasing global economic instability. "While the fundamentals of Canada's economy remain stronger, more stable and more durable than those ...
Brothers gonna work it out-Spoken Word concert marks 10th anniversary
Nov 06, 2008; ... TORONTO: THIS YEAR marks the 10th anniversary of the spoken word concert, When Brothers Speak, and founder, Dwayne Morgan, says patrons should expect a mind-blowing experience. Morgan, who started the popular event in Toronto in 1998, after a short visit and performance in ...
Dance choreographer enjoying the moment
Nov 06, 2008; ... TORONTO, Canada: LUTHER BROWN Jr. is living the life of a celebrity. Earlier this year, the 34year-old, Jamaica-born Canadian was picked up at his home in Los Angeles and flown to Canada to audition to be a judge and .choreographer on the CTV show, So You Think You Can Dance Canada. He ...
Yes!, Yes!, YES!
Nov 06, 2008; ... YES!" It is an amazing production. Imagine, having to transfer your experience of over two decades from memory to paper. Then entrusting people with the responsibility of transferring that paper onto a stage into concrete images for an audience. Does it seem like a mammoth task? That ...
Robin Baston says 'Yes!'
Nov 06, 2008; ... THE ROLE of the lighting designer or the existence of a technical director in production has not been given much thought by the average theatre audience. But their roles are very crucial to any production. So what does it take to be a technical director? "The nature of the technical ...
Toy drive to benefit Ja's children
Nov 06, 2008; ... NEW YORK (JIS): SCORES OF children across Jamaica are to benefit this Christmas from a toy drive being spearheaded by Lorna Golding, wife of Jamaica's Prime Minister, Bruce Golding and patron of the Jamaica Early Childhood Development Foundation (JECDF). This effort is seen as ...
Barnes is back, ready to work with Boyz
Nov 06, 2008; ... JAMAICAN-BORN FORMER England international John Barnes arrived in the island Thursday, October 30, as he prepares to officially begin his stint as coach of Jamaica's Reggae Boyz. Although the former Liverpool winger had been announced as a replacement for Brazilian technical director ...
Lucozade honours Powell
Nov 06, 2008; ... ASAFA POWELL was, on Tuesday, October 28, recognised over lunch by GlaxoSmithKline, distributors of Lucozade, which is one of the athlete's sponsors. Powell, accompanied by his coach Stephen Francis and MVP Club president Bruce James, was presented with a book and a framed picture by ...
Carib icons to be honoured
Nov 06, 2008; ... A NUMBER of the leading Caribbean sports stars, past and present, will be in the spotlight Friday, November 7, at the inaugural Caribbean Awards Sports Icons, which will be held at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel. The gala event, brainchild of Jamaicaborn, London-based Al Hamilton, will honour ...
Duckie resigns from Portmore United
Nov 06, 2008; ... OUTGOING TECHNICAL director of Portmore United, Donovan Duckie, said the club isn't in danger of slumping in form due to his sudden departure. Duckie, who was in his first season with the club, delivered his resignation via e-mail on Monday, October 28, to Wayne Sinclair, the club's ...
WALKER CUP REPLAY
Nov 06, 2008; ... SUPPORTERS OF Calabar High and Excelsior High will have to wait a little bit longer for bragging rights in the ISSA/Pepsi/Digicel Walker Cup Knockout competition, after the final was blown off due to bad light at the Constant Spring Complex on Friday, October 31. The game, which was ...
Harbour View, Boys' Town on course for first-round final
Nov 06, 2008; ... LEADERS HARBOUR View and second-place Boys' Town on Sunday, November 2, stayed on course for spots in the first-round final of the Digicel Premier League, with home wins against Sporting Central and Waterhouse, respectively. With two games to go, Harbour View skipped to 20 points with a ...
Gayle-led squad trump England by 10 wickets
Nov 06, 2008; ... COOLIDGE, Antigua (CMC) THE STANFORD Superstare are no w rolling in the dough. On the back of purposeful bowling, agile fielding, and aggressive batting, they convincingly crushed England by 10 wickets in the Stanford Twenty20 match for US $20 million on Saturday, November 1, at ...
Young, gifted and Barack
Nov 13, 2008; ... ON TUESDAY, November 4, I joined the rest of the world holding in my breath and staying awake to watch history being made. The pouring rain cooled my anxieties somewhat, but the loud clap of thunder that immediately followed the announcement of Barack Obama's victory gave new meaning to the term ...
What policy responses to an Obama presidency?
Nov 13, 2008; ... EDITORIAL THE EUPHORIA has not yet passed over the election of Barack Obama as the first African-American president of the United States (US). But, for the president-elect, there is not much time to celebrate. He has the complex task of putting together a government to take over ...
Rocking to the memory of ALTON ELLLIS
Nov 13, 2008; ... IT WAS a time of mourning and celebration at the funeral of the 'rocksteady king' Alton Nehemiah Ellis, OD, at the St Andrew's Scots Kirk United Church on Duke Street, Kingston, November 3. His life was honoured by family, friends, politicians, actors and his many fans who were in ...
Immigrants drive polls in New York
Nov 13, 2008; ... Nearly half of electorate are naturalized citizens NEW YORK: IMMIGRANTS CONTINUE to swell the ranks of first time voters in New York City and remain a driving force in the growth of the city's electorate. Nearly half of all those voting for the first time in the 2008 U.S ....
THE OBAMA VOTE
Nov 13, 2008; ... JEAN RICHARDSON "For the first time, I'm excited about a general election. People are concerned about the economy. They've put race aside and voted for the issues. An Obama Presidency means that this won't be an America for the upper echelon only, it will include ...
Black Americans look ahead with Obama
Nov 13, 2008; ... Deon Brown NEW YORK: AS THE nation settles into the reality of Barack Obama's victory over John McCain, marking the first time an African American will occupy the White House, Americans are still tingling with pride at having been a participant in and witness to ...
Coming full circle with HIV/AIDS
Nov 13, 2008; ... Region urged to repeal buggery law MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica, CMC: TWO AND a half decades after it was branded "the gay plague" AIDS is again taking a toll on certain vulnerable groups within the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), one of them being men who have sex with ...
Cardiac safety takes a giant step in Toronto
Nov 13, 2008; ... TORONTO, Canada: HEART-PROOFING the neighbourhood just got easier and not a minute too soon says the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario (HSFO). The HSFO is directing funds to expand the number of AEDs(Automated External Defibrillators) in Toronto under the CardiacSafe City ...
African-American play of 1950s still relevant
Nov 13, 2008; ... African-American play of 1950s still relevant AFRICAN AMERICAN play- wright, Lorraine Hansberiys play, A Raisin in the Sun, which wraps up in Toronto this Saturday (November 15) is as poignant today as it was in the 1950s when she wrote it. The play examines the plight of a black family ...
Region looks to Barack Obama for economic support
Nov 13, 2008; ... PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad, (CMC): PRIME MINISTER Patrick Manning says he is very hopeful of new economic support for the Caribbean under the Barack Obama presidency in the United States. Following his inauguration as US President on January 20 next year, Obama is scheduled to join ...
Bird bashes Spencer over renaming of mountain peak
Nov 13, 2008; ... ST. JOHNS, Antigua (CMC): LEADER OF the Antigua Labour Party (ALP), Lester Bird, criticised Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer Monday over a decision to rename the country's highest peak after United States president-elect Barack Obama. 'We are forced to deplore the dictatorship of ...
Banana industry collapse looms, says key executive
Nov 13, 2008; ... CASTRIES, St. Lucia (CMC): A SENIOR banana official has warned that the industry across the Windward Islands is doomed to collapse in much the same way as Jamaica's, unless serious efforts are taken to increase the productivity of farms. Chief Executive Officer of the Windward ...
Remembering Grenada's story
Nov 13, 2008; ... TORONTO, Canada: GRENADIANS LIVING in Toronto must face the truth about the island's 1979 revolution, resulting in the execution of prime minister, Maurice Bishop, the life imprisonment of his right-hand man, Bernard Coard for his murder and the US invasion in 1983. Shalini Puri, ...
Willard White, the new voice of Royal Northern College of Music
Nov 13, 2008; ... LONDON, England: JAMAICA-BORN baritone Sir Willard White, who began his career at the Jamaica School of Music in Kingston, is now the president of The Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) in the United Kingdom. Communications manager at the college, Fiona Davidson, told The ...
Another court date for 'Family Man'?
Nov 13, 2008; ... AN AMERICAN show promoter has sued legendary reggae band The Wailers to recover US$2 million in concert fees he claims it owes him. The promoter, Bill Reid, told the Virginian-Pilot newspaper last week that the funds represent eight years of unpaid concert revenues. As their promoter, ...
COURTS OPENS STORE IN NY
Nov 13, 2008; ... ON THURSDAY October 30, Courts officially opened the doors of its first North American store for business in the Caribbean populated borough of Brooklyn, New York. This new addition brings to 94 the total number of stores in the Courts family. The opening which included a ...
Barnes quashes Watford rumour
Nov 13, 2008; ... JAMAICA'S NATIONAL football coach, John Barnes, has dismissed rumours linking him with a move to former English club Watford as mere speculation. "I don't comment on speculation. Watford have not spoken to me, nor have I spoken to them. The fact of the matter is that I have a job and ...