The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) got a failing grade from the Auditor General’s Department for the financial management of funds donated to assist the victims of Hurricane Melissa that devastated western and southern sections of the country on October 28, 2025.

Residents in sections of Westmoreland affected by a recently imposed curfew are pleading with the Government to ease restrictions, arguing that the measure is crippling livelihoods and worsening hardships already caused by Hurricane Melissa.

WESTERN BUREAU: The official opening of Treasure Beach Village at Beaches Resorts in the Turks and Caicos Islands on Saturday marked the first major step in a planned US$1-billion expansion for the Jamaican-owned hospitality brand. The investment will see Beaches Resorts double its footprint across the Caribbean over the next several years.

It was as if the vehicles vanished into thin air — some in under 60 seconds — leaving owners and investigators stunned by the thieves’ speed and precision. The criminals have remained relentless, targeting communities including Hope Pastures, Karachi and Mona in St Andrew, along with sections of Greater Portmore in St Catherine, Barnett Street in St James, and sections of Ochi Rios, St Ann, almost nightly.

The Opposition is demanding the tabling tomorrow of an Integrity Commission (IC) investigation into alleged corruption and irregularities at the Firearm Licensing Authority (FLA), six weeks after the IC submitted the report to Parliament. Mark Golding, the leader of the Opposition, wrote to Speaker of the House of Representatives Juliet Holness after the parliamentary leadership signalled that the report was not tabled due to judicial proceedings and that the matter was sub judice.

Ewayne Price, a Kingston music producer, who told investigators that imitation firearms found at his home were being used as props in music videos, has been sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment and life behind bars under the controversial Firearms Act.

A St James man who was being sought in connection with the death of an American tourist last month turned himself in to the St Mary police on Friday. The man was being sought by investigators probing the death of Melissa Kerry Samnath, who was killed hours after arriving in the island to celebrate her 37th birthday.

The nightmares came after the funeral. Months after 16-year-old Devonie Shearer died from injuries sustained when another student hit him with a chair at Ocho Rios High School, teacher Mikhail McKenzie still found himself haunted by the tragedy. To cope, he turned to writing – a letter to the Gleaner editor.

A report on an Integrity Commission investigation into alleged corruption and irregularities at the Firearm Licensing Authority (FLA) remains untabled in Parliament six weeks after its submission, amid a legal challenge by the gun regulator in the Supreme Court. The Integrity Commission confirmed to The Sunday Gleaner last Tuesday that a report was had been submitted to Parliament on March 30, 2026, and was formally received and signed for at 1:02 p.m. that day. 

WESTERN BUREAU: Despite currently enjoying a 38 per cent decline in major crimes, there remains heightened concern in St Elizabeth about an uptick in murders, according to Superintendent Coleridge Minto, the police commander for the parish. 

There was a quiet authority in the way Fione Collins addressed the room — less a ceremonial overview, more a reflection shaped by lived experience at the frontlines of care. As the 2025-2026 LASCO/Nurses Association of Jamaica (NAJ) Nurse of the Year, Collins used the International Nurses Day press briefing, held on Tuesday at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel, not just to look back, but to challenge how Jamaica — and the wider world — understands and supports its nurses.

WESTERN BUREAU:  Michael Troupe, the leader of the People’s National Party’s (PNP) minority in the St James Municipal Corporation (StJMC), on Thursday angered his colleagues on the opposite side when he blamed recent police killings in his Granville division on Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness' 'meet a judge or meet your maker' utterance in 2025.

The Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information has hit back after Education Minister Senator Dr Dana Morris Dixon was taken to task on Wednesday over comments she had made regarding delays in the approval process for a perimeter fence at Naggo Head Primary School in Portmore.

Jamaica, with the help of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), has completed the draft for a 10-year National Agricultural Development Plan, Grow Forward, that will now seek feedback from stakeholders before finalisation.

A vicious daylight attempted robbery in Half-Way Tree, St Andrew, on Friday afternoon left an elderly man dead and triggered major traffic congestion across sections of the Corporate Area as police launched a probe into the brazen attack.

Jamaicans with United States (US) citizenship who owe outstanding child support payments are being encouraged to urgently rectify their status or risk having their US passports cancelled, leaving them unable to travel.

There was a quiet authority in the way Fione Collins addressed the room — less a ceremonial overview, more a reflection shaped by lived experience at the frontlines of care. As the 2025-2026 LASCO/Nurses Association of Jamaica (NAJ) Nurse of the Year, Collins used the International Nurses Day press briefing, held on Tuesday at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel, not just to look back, but to challenge how Jamaica — and the wider world — understands and supports its nurses.

Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Alando Terrelonge, says the Government looks forward to working with the new US ambassador. 

Western Bureau: With some 20 persons still being housed in the four shelters that are still open in Hanover, there are now concerns over whether they will be properly settled ahead of the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season, which is looming on the horizon. 

WESTERN BUREAU: Dr Francine Phillips-Kelly, the medical officer of health for St  James, says the parish’s health department is paying keen attention to the cruise ship piers in both Montego Bay and Falmouth, in Trelawny, as it takes steps to prevent the spread of the deadly hantavirus disease in western Jamaica. 

Five residents of Salt Spring have been recognised by Project STAR as community champions, honoured for their consistent volunteerism, leadership and commitment to community development.

As global fertiliser and oil prices climb in the wake of the Strait of Hormuz closure amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, Jamaica’s Ministry of Agriculture says it is rolling out a comprehensive strategy to lessen the potential fallout on the country’s agriculture and fisheries sectors.

St John’s, Antigua: Jamaica’s move to tighten regulations on Airbnb and other short-term rental operators is gaining wider Caribbean backing, with regional hoteliers now demanding equal taxation across the accommodation sector while also pushing back against new commission practices by Booking.com that they say could drain millions from the region.

Persons residing in Jamaica shelled out almost J$500 million on OnlyFans last year, more than any other English-s Speaking Caribbean country. This is according web activity tracker OnlyGuider, which reviewed the subscription-only social media platform famous for facilitating the sharing of adult content.

Business executive Alpha Smith was yesterday found guilty of assault occasioning grievious bodily harm, bringing to an end a four-year court case arising from an incident involving a United States citizen.

WESTERN BUREAU: Black River Mayor Richard Solomon says St Elizabeth remains dangerously unprepared for the Atlantic hurricane season, which begins in another two weeks, with more than half of its emergency shelters left unusable after Hurricane Melissa’s destruction last year.

Western Bureau: Residents of Woodsville, in Hanover, who have been operating with a makeshift bridge they created following the collapse of the 100-year-old Woodsville bridge four years ago, are making yet another plea to the authorities to replace the bridge immediately. They say  the one they created from logs and trees has become structurally unsafe, following recent rains.

WESTERN BUREAU: Malaika, Mahari and Mikalli Foster, known in gospel music circles as the Foster Triplets, have been awarded the keys to the city of Worcester, in Massachusetts, for their ongoing ‘We Will Rise’ benefit initiative, which is raising funds to assist families in Westmoreland, who were displaced by Hurricane Melissa.

When the next academic year begins in September 2026, Jamaican Justin Brown will be one of 10 international students starting a Master of Management in Analytics postgraduate programme at McGill University in Canada.

The Portmore Municipal Council has sharply rebuked Senator Dr Dana Morris Dixon, the minister of education, skills, youth and information, accusing her of misleading the public with claims that bureaucracy caused an 18‑month delay in building approvals for a perimeter fence at Naggo Head Primary School in St Catherine.

A 13-year-old Excelsior High School student remains in a coma at the Kingston Public Hospital (KPH) after she was stabbed while trying to intervene in a violent domestic dispute in Bayshore Park in the vicinity of Harbour View, St Andrew, on Saturday night.

Wayne Chai Chong said the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) board he led for about a year from December 2022 had identified corrective steps for a litany of problems later flagged by the Auditor General’s Department (AuGD) in a performance audit. However, he said very little was done by the management to implement the recommendations.

Period poverty in Jamaica is to be addressed by the government, according to Health Minister Christopher Tufton, who made the announcement during his Sectoral debate in parliament on Tuesday. Period poverty is one of 10 areas that will get attention under the government’s new initiative, the half-a-billion dollar Social Determinants of Health CARE Fund, the minister disclosed.

Four months after Category 5 Hurricane Melissa left a path of destruction, particularly across southern and western Jamaica, the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) had spent only $26 million, or 1.8 per cent of the $1.44 billion in cash donation to assist Jamaicans devastated by the storm.

WESTERN BUREAU: Former colonels Meredith Rowe and Ferron Williams, who plan to contest the upcoming Accompong Maroon leadership elections, have raised concerns about the process, which is being managed by the incumbent chief, Richard Currie, who is seeking re-election. The men are arguing that the electoral process is unfair and flawed.