Government officials and the top executive at Jamaica’s electricity distribution monopoly were still stumped yesterday as to why a series of “significant lightning activities” near critical power plants triggered a “cascading effect” that plunged the entire country into darkness for several hours on Friday into early Saturday. Hugh Grant, CEO of the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPSCo), acknowledged that a total collapse of the electricity grid “is not something we expect to happen.”

Winston Watson knows the communities between Negril, Westmoreland, and Montego Bay, St James, better than he ever wanted to. For more than two weeks, he and his relatives have criss-crossed western Jamaica chasing reported sightings of his missing father, Winston Watson Sr – a retired tour bus driver with dementia who disappeared from his Hanover home and has not been seen by his family since.

WESTERN BUREAU: For decades, Deputy Prime Minister Dr Horace Chang has lived a life dictated by public service. From student leadership at Cornwall College and The University of the West Indies to medicine, politics and national security, he has spent much of his adult life making decisions, solving problems and carrying responsibility. But after open-heart surgery forced him to step away from the daily demands of public life last year, Chang found himself confronting something he rarely had time to consider. Himself.

WESTERN BUREAU: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Security and Peace Dr Horace Chang had just completed another gruelling election campaign. The veteran politician, known for his demanding schedule and relentless work ethic, felt well. There was no chest pain, no shortness of breath, and no warning signs that anything was seriously wrong. Then a routine medical examination revealed a reality that would force one of Jamaica's most seasoned public figures to confront his own mortality. Three blocked arteries. Open-heart surgery. And months of recovery.

Western Bureau: Sergeant Darral Ellis, sub-officer in charge of traffic in Hanover, has expressed concern about the failure of road users to obey traffic regulations, which he says is a major contributor to road crashes in the parish, particularly fatal accidents. “My biggest concern is that motorists are not adhering to requirements of the Road Traffic Act – the rules of the road – and it is that failure to comply with these laws why we are having those accidents,” said Ellis.

If the spring season has brought an urge to scrub your living space from top to bottom, why not clear out the digital detritus cluttering your electronic devices and online accounts at the same time? Carrying out the digital equivalent of spring cleaning a home isn't just an opportunity to tidy up our online lives. Eliminating dust bunnies like dormant accounts and forgotten files can help protect personal data, according to cybersecurity experts.

Retired Court of Appeal President Justice Ian Forte has died at age 89. He enjoyed a legal career spanning more than five decades and held some of the highest judicial offices in Jamaica and across the Caribbean. He served as Jamaica's director of public prosecutions (DPP) from 1977 to 1988 before joining the Court of Appeal, where he served from 1988 to 1999. He later became president of the Court of Appeal, from which he retired in 2005.

The Senate yesterday approved the amendments to the National Housing Trust (NHT) Act paving the way for the Government to withdraw $11.4 billion annually from the NHT over the next five years to support the Budget.  The Government used its majority in the Senate to pass the proposed statute with 10 votes in favour, while the eight Opposition members voted against it. Two lawmakers were absent. 

Western Bureau: Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness has declared that Jamaica can no longer afford a public bureaucracy that delays critical infrastructure projects for years, arguing that excessive procedures are driving up costs and placing unnecessary burdens on citizens. Holness, who was speaking at Friday’s opening of the new Troy Bridge in Trelawny, which was built to replace an older structure that collapsed in August 2021, is pushing for major reforms to the Government's approval and investment systems.

Energy Minister Daryl Vaz says he expects to update the country on Saturday following what he described as an “unacceptable” all-island power outage that left Jamaica in darkness for nearly two hours on Friday night.

Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness has defended his Government’s extension of legislation to draw down a further $57 billion from the National Housing Trust (NHT) for budget support, arguing that this will not impair the state agency’s ability to deliver benefits to contributors.

Former Prime Minister Bruce Golding has suggested that lawmakers revisit the proposed impeachment law he attempted to introduce over 15 years ago, arguing that “the existing accountability framework needs to be strengthened”.

National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang has come to the defence of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Firearm Licensing Authority (FLA) Shane Dalling after the opposition People’s National Party called for his resignation in the wake of a report from the Integrity Commission (IC) on the operations of the entity.

The country’s independent fiscal monitor has raised concerns that more than $57 billion that were programmed by the central Government and several self-financing public sector bodies for capital works projects in the last financial year were unspent.

Businessman Kent Brown is pursuing nearly $9 million in damages against the Firearm Licensing Authority (FLA), alleging that the agency's failure to issue renewal certificates after approving his licences led to the collapse of his firearms-related businesses.  The lawsuit was filed in March 2022 and a defence from the FLA in 2023. A hearing date has not yet ben set.

Jamaica has been elected to the executive committee of the Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM), securing a prominent role in shaping regional gender policy over the next three years.

Drone technology, robotics, and esports recently took centre stage at Jamaica House as Jamaica Drone Soccer delivered a live demonstration highlighting new opportunities for STEM education, innovation, and youth development.

An Integrity Commission (IC) probe has exposed severe Firearm Licensing Authority data manipulation, revealing that an employee falsified electronic records to target a prominent licensed dealer when he, among other things, logged that a dead man had purchased ammunition.

As cyber threats grow more sophisticated and artificial intelligence (AI) reshapes the digital landscape, organisations worldwide face a persistent shortage of cybersecurity talent, according to Fortinet’s 2026 Global Cybersecurity Skills Gap Report.

WESTERN BUREAU:  Once boundaries are determined through an upcoming survey, about 150 residents of Rose Heights in St James Central are set to receive land titles, formalising ownership of the properties they occupy. The announcement was made by Heroy Clarke, member of parliament for the area, at his Constituency Development Fund (CDF) consultation meeting at Cornwall College in Montego Bay last Thursday.

Justices of the peace (JPs) are being asked to play a greater role in helping suspended and displaced students reintegrate into the education system based on reports from school-safety officials that too many children are being pushed out of school without the requisite support to resolve conflicts.

A man who led a woman to believe that they were in a committed relationship lost out on half a share in her St Elizabeth home and motor vehicle after he cheated and fathered a baby during their nearly three-year relationship. Leandy Clarke was, last month, ordered by the Supreme Court to transfer his 50 per cent share in both the property and the motor vehicle within three weeks after the court declared his former partner, Deena Keniston, the sole legal and beneficial owner of both assets.

Jamaica’s long-standing partnership with the United States (US) was on display on Monday with the arrival of US Navy aircraft carrier, USS Nimitz in Kingston. “There’s not a better symbol of the security cooperation between the US and Jamaica and our work in maritime security than this incredible ship being here today," said US Chargé d’Affaires Scott Renner. Stretching nearly 1,100 feet in length, 252 feet in width, and rising as high as a 23-storey building, the 51-year-old aircraft carrier is among the fastest ships in the US Navy, capable of speeds of around 30 knots. 

Deputy Prime Minister Dr Horace Chang returned to his roots last Friday and opened a new state-of-the-art computer laboratory at the New Roads Primary School in Westmoreland, the institution he attended as a child. The facility, which was funded through Chang's personal resources, is equipped with desktop computers and Internet connectivity, including Starlink service installed with assistance from the Universal Service Fund (USF).

A former senior CARICOM official sees the docking of one of the world’s largest warships, the USS Nimitz, in Jamaican waters on Monday as a tactic by the Donald Trump Administration to “intimidate” Cubans. The Government on Monday welcomed the arrival of the aircraft carrier to Kingston, calling it a symbol of the long-standing bilateral relationship between Jamaica and the United States. The warship is expected to remain in the island until June 5.

Jamaica’s senior citizens now have a new opportunity to stay active while building and maintaining social connections following Friday’s official launch of the Ministry of Health and Wellness’ (MOHW) Park Walker Initiative for Older Adults in Montego Bay, St James.

 To combat this, the school’s administration pivoted, the principal later revealed in a February follow-up with The Gleaner, to pathway coaching, reduced class sizes, and restricted curriculum choices to focus heavily on foundational literacy and numeracy.

A Virgin Atlantic flight carrying 241 passengers and 12 crew from London Heathrow to Montego Bay was forced to divert to Shannon, Ireland, on Saturday night after a “technical issue” developed during the flight over the Atlantic Ocean. Jamaican attorney-at-law Yushaine Morgan, who was among the passengers, told The Gleaner that he heard a “loud bang” about three hours into the flight. 

St James Central Member of Parliament (MP) Heroy Clarke wants the water shortage issues currently affecting Appleton Hall and surrounding areas to be resolved before the new Western Children and Adolescent Hospital is official opened. Clarke, who was speaking during Thursday’s Constituency Development Fund consultation meeting at Cornwall College in Montego Bay, said the water supply challenges in the area, which is already complicated by an outdated pump in Appleton Hall, will worsen once the medical facility, which is located on the grounds of the Mount Salem-based Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH), is opened.

Convicted serial killer Kemar Thompson, whose bloody 2014 crime spree claimed eight lives in three separate incidents across St Catherine, will remain behind bars for at least 66 years and seven months before parole considerations.

Raw sewage running through yards. Roads so broken, ambulances struggle to enter. Residents forced to wait up to six weeks for garbage collection. Entire sections of the community plunged into darkness without electricity or streetlights. For the people of Whitehall in Negril, Westmoreland, these are not isolated inconveniences. Residents say they are daily realities in a community they claim has been abandoned by the very agencies responsible for its development.

Seaford Harvey remembers a time when lignum vitae was a familiar feature of the landscape across St Catherine, with the short, compact trees and their distinctive bluish-purple blooms growing in abundance throughout the parish. When he started making wood carvings more than three decades ago, the dense, durable timber of the lignum vitae (Guaiacum officinale) was his material of choice, and he would source it from vendors who readily traded the prized logs. 

Before Hurricane Melissa, they had a home, a livelihood, friends of their own age and a sense of normalcy. Seven months later, all that remains is each other, a weathered couch and an ageing handheld radio through which they follow a world that has largely moved on without them. Forced from their home after Melissa ravaged Providence, St Elizabeth, Mervin and Avis Jones now spend their days at their daughter's house in Avon Park, St Catherine, far removed from the life they once knew. With no income and few possessions salvaged from the storm, the elderly couple say each day is a struggle to maintain hope.

The Court of Appeal has overturned a finding of professional misconduct against attorney-at-law and Portland Eastern Member of Parliament Isat Buchanan, which arose from comments he made about the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) in 2020. Then DPP Paula Llewellyn was the complainant.

CAIRO (AP): The United States and Iran appear to be closing in on a deal to end the war and open the Strait of Hormuz. US and Iranian negotiators on Thursday reached a tentative agreement to extend the ceasefire in the three-month-old war by 60 days and start a new round of talks on Iran's nuclear programme, according to a US official familiar with the matter. Iran did not immediately confirm any deal.  US Vice President JD Vance on Thursday evening confirmed there was a tentative agreement, but said it was unclear if President Donald Trump would approve it.