Maryland Governor Wes Moore has found himself uninvited from the National Governors Association Dinner to take place at the White House tomorrow, an event that is part of the winter meetings of governors from across the United States (US). The governors’ winter meeting is scheduled to kick off today with the White House meeting slated for Friday. The black tie dinner follows formal discussions.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Two policemen are under investigation for their suspected involvement in three murders, including the shooting death of a popular St Mary businessman last week, multiple law-enforcement sources have revealed. The other killing was a double murder, but sources declined to divulge details because the investigation is at a sensitive stage.

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.

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.

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”.

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.

WESTERN BUREAU: The deepening partnership between Jamaica and China was highlighted Saturday night as Justice Minister Delroy Chuck, representing Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness, addressed the Chinese Community’s Spring Festival celebration in Montego Bay, St James. Addressing more than 2,000 patrons gathered at The Pinnacle on Saturday night, Chuck described the Spring Festival as “a living reminder of the deep bonds of friendship, mutual respect and cooperation” that have long defined relations between the two nations.

The Government, through the Ministry of National Security and Peace, is signalling that it intends to collect a whopping $1 billion in traffic fines in the 2026-2027 fiscal year. This compares with $450 million that was set as the target to collect in fiscal year 2025-2026. The increase is set out in the Estimates of Expenditure, which was tabled in Parliament last week by Finance and the Public Service Minister Fayval Williams.

A senior police investigator testified yesterday that he never identified any alleged members of the Clansman Gang as suspects in a 2017 murder on Roger Avenue in Spanish Town, St Catherine – and never identified any suspect at all – despite the prosecution’s case linking the killing to the gang. “I have not identified a suspect up to this date,” the detective inspector told the court during the trial of alleged gang leader Tesha Miller and 24 other men in the Home Circuit Court.

Jamaica is renegotiating its long-running medical cooperation programme with Cuba amid renewed pressure from the United States. Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton confirmed that while the previous memorandum of understanding (MOU) has expired, nearly 300 Cuban doctors and specialists continue to serve under existing contracts.

Dennis Shipping company, a sea service provider catering largely to the Jamaican diaspora in specific geographic areas in the United States, is pleading with local authorities to strip more than 40 containers that have been sitting at Jamaica’s two ports, some since last year, with emergency hurricane supplies that are no longer of value.

WESTERN BUREAU: The Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority (JCAA) has pushed back against claims that Jamaica’s general aviation sector is in collapse, outlining legislative reforms, licensing growth and ongoing infrastructure interventions it says signal an evolving, not dying, industry.

WESTERN BUREAU: A coalition of church leaders is urging lawmakers to proceed cautiously as Parliament advances the Casino Gaming (General) Regulations, 2025, warning that Jamaica must be fully prepared to manage the potential social risks of expanded casino operations. The Watchman Church Leaders Alliance (WCLA) said it has been monitoring the parliamentary discussions surrounding the regulations tied to integrated resort developments (IRDs), which the Government has positioned as catalysts for tourism expansion and foreign investment.

Born out of an ever-increasing need for emotional and mental healing from gun crimes, the mission of the Pamella’s Sunrise Foundation is to close these deeply inflicted psychosocial wounds, by taking people through their pain towards their purpose. Turning around what’s traumatic can be torturous as often serious scars remain ... and Denise Johnston, founder of Pamella’s Sunrise Foundation, readily admittted that hers was a long journey towards purpose because her pain was not properly dealt with. Her grief ... is gripping.

If donating a pint of blood can save the lives of three persons, then Sonya Binns-Lawrence, the country’s leading blood donor, is just 10 shy of perhaps saving the lives of 400 of her fellow Jamaicans. The phlebotomist, who is celebrating her 60th birthday, decided to twin the occasion with her 130th donation of blood to the cause of helping someone in dire need. The selfless blood donor understands too well the need to give the precious life-giving substance, having worked as an expert in drawing blood for more than 35 years.

Less than a year after a literacy crisis at Pembroke Hall High School drew national attention, the institution has reported a landmark academic turnaround. Internal assessments have shown that 76 per cent of grade-seven students have advanced by two or more grade levels in reading, a success attributed to reduced class sizes, a specialised Grade 7 Academy model, and intensive remedial collaboration, principal Reverend Claude Ellis said.

Three additional solar energy community centres are to be established in fishing villages affected by Hurricane Melissa under a $9.2 million partnership between the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Government of Australia. When completed, the UNDP-supported centres will total five, with plans to expand to other impacted fishing communities. Two centres were recently delivered to Parottee and Galleon Beach in St Elizabeth.

A shortage of labourers, building materials, and shrinking cash flow is slowing repairs to public institutions hardest hit by Hurricane Melissa. Suppliers and contractors are scrambling to prioritise projects and compete for limited resources as they race to finish jobs. Three months after the storm, the sound of hammers and saws still echoes across several schools and state-owned buildings in St Elizabeth – perhaps most noticeably at the Black River Hospital, where workers from at least three companies were on site just over a week ago.

John Brown* was trying to pick up passengers in downtown Kingston on a busy Thursday afternoon last month when inspectors from the Transport Authority (TA) blocked his Toyota Probox motor car with red plates affixed. The TA was established by law in 1987 to regulate and monitor the public transportation sector in Jamaica. All the documents for Brown’s vehicle were up to date, including the hackney carriage licence that he was issued by the regulatory body, he recounted during an interview with The Sunday Gleaner last Friday.

WESTERN BUREAU: Savanna-la-Mar is not a town you stroll through for leisure. You move because you must. The capital of Westmoreland, home to an estimated 13,930 people across 3,980 households, has long depended on foot traffic. In this low-lying coastal town, walking is not a lifestyle choice – it is survival. To get to school, to work, to the hospital, to the market, residents walk. Now, in the wake of Category 5 Hurricane Melissa, that daily necessity has turned into a daily gamble. The storm did not create Sav’s infrastructure problems. It exposed them.

Caught between failing infrastructure in Cuba and what they described as a wall of diplomatic silence at home, Jamaican medical students are urging the Government to establish a formal bridge to local universities to safeguard their academic futures. Tightened United States sanctions and the cessation of Venezuelan oil shipments have plunged the Spanish-speaking nation into a deepening crisis, leaving its power grid and essential services close to collapse.

The continuing oversight of the Global Jamaica Diaspora Council (GJDC) by the Government has sparked fierce pushback from some members of the Jamaican diaspora in the United States, with a former Diaspora Advisory Board member calling for change. At the same time, an outgoing GJDC council member for the Southern region is publicly questioning why the Government retains control over the body. Former Diaspora Advisory Board member Patrick Beckford is calling for the Jamaican Government to divest itself from serving as chair of the diaspora governance structure.

WESTERN BUREAU: Deputy Superintendent of Police Roderick Reid, the acting operations officer for the St James Police Division, is urging the councillors at the St James Municipal Corporation (StJMC) to play their part in engaging the residents of their divisions in a bid to reduce the parish’s crime rate, particularly murders. Reid made the appeal while addressing Thursday’s monthly meeting of the StJMC, where he reported that St James has recorded nine murders since the start of 2026. He also noted that eight illegal firearms had been seized in the division to date.

WESTERN BUREAU: The St James Municipal Corporation (StJMC) on Thursday passed a resolution during its monthly meeting to erect a statue of the late reggae icon James ‘Jimmy Cliff’ Chambers at the entrance to Jimmy Cliff Boulevard in downtown Montego Bay. The resolution, which will be sent to the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport for review, was presented and unanimously approved by the councillors in attendance.

Western Bureau: It has been more than three months since Hurricane Melissa devastated western Jamaica, but the impact is still being felt in the region with some families in Hanover, whose homes were destroyed, still being housed in shelters. Speaking at Thursday’s monthly meeting of the Hanover Municipal Corporation (HMC), Lucea Deputy Mayor Andria Dehaney-Grant said approximately 20 persons were still occupying shelters across the parish as they have no homes to return to because of the impact of the hurricane.

Jamaica Prefects’ Association (JPA) President Nashá Patterson is calling for urgent, coordinated action to locate and re-engage students who have stopped attending school following the passage of Hurricane Melissa. Patterson warned that absenteeism is deepening learning loss and contributing to growing demotivation among teachers. Reports coming out from Regions 4 (Hanover, Westmoreland and St James) and 5 (St Elizabeth and Manchester) have raised red flags for the student leadership body, with classrooms now operating at less than half their usual capacity.

The continuing oversight of the Global Jamaica Diaspora Council (GJDC) by the Government has sparked fierce pushback from some members of the Jamaican diaspora in the United States, with a former Diaspora Advisory Board member calling for change. At the same time, an outgoing GJDC council member for the Southern region is publicly questioning why the Government retains control over the body. Former Diaspora Advisory Board member Patrick Beckford is calling for the Jamaican Government to divest itself from serving as chair of the diaspora governance structure.

Business leaders in Montego Bay are pressing the Government to commission a comprehensive study of the city’s rivers and drainage system after Hurricane Melissa left billions of dollars in damage last October. Countless businesses and homes in Westgreen and Catherine Hall were inundated, forcing costly clean-up efforts and disrupting jobs. Barnett Tech Park, a 48-acre hub for global services firms, was among the hardest hit, alongside retailers such as MegaMart and National Supply Limited.

WESTERN BUREAU: More than four years after fire destroyed the Granville Police Station in St James, there is still no clear picture as to when the promised replacement facility will be constructed. Deputy Superintendent of Police Roderick Reid, the acting operations officer for St James, told Thursday’s monthly meeting of the St James Municipal Corporation (StJMC) that discussions about the police station are still being held between the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) and the Ministry of National Security.

An elderly American couple who lost US$70,000 to a Jamaican lottery scam syndicate got dressed “on several occasions” in their “best clothes” and waited for their million-dollar ‘prize’ to be delivered to their home, according to authorities in the United States (US). The allegations were outlined in an indictment charging a Jamaican man, Richard Murray, 31, with money laundering and fraud-related crimes for his alleged involvement in a lottery scam that defrauded mainly elderly American citizens of millions of dollars.

A detective corporal told the Home Circuit Court on Wednesday that police intelligence had identified one of the three men killed during a January 2013 operation on Acadia Drive as an area don in Grants Pen. The officer, who initially led the investigation before it was taken over by the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM), said intelligence indicated that Eucliffe Dyer was regarded as an area don. He made the disclosure in response to a question about whether he considered Dyer to hold that status.