WESTERN BUREAU: Attorney-at-law Helene Coley Nicholson, president of Lawyers’ Christian Fellowship Jamaica, is warning that lawsuits filed against the State, for breaching the constitutional rights of residents of Cooper’s Pen, Trelawny, could cost taxpayers. Several of those residents were arrested prior to last Tuesday’s demolition exercise that flattened 20 houses.

Principals across Jamaica are hopeful that the strategies employed to improve their students’ mathematics performance will pay off when this year’s Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examination results are released later today. Dr Worrel Hibbert, principal of St Andrew Technical High School, said this involved restructuring the school’s approach to the subject. Although he declined to state the technical school’s pass rate in the subject last year, Hibbert told The Gleaner that it was “way below what was expected”.

The Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) has appointed Dr Brian Langrin as governor, succeeding Richard Byles, whose seven-year term ends today. The appointment follows a selection process formalised in April 2026 through a four-member search committee convened by Finance Minister Fayval Williams, which assessed a field of local and international candidates. Langrin takes over at a time of uncertainty, with the central bank maintaining a tight grip on inflation through elevated interest rates.

Nine men from Cooper’s Pen, Trelawny, who claim that they were rounded up by the police and kept in custody for hours during last week’s controversial demolition exercise in the community, have filed a lawsuit against the Government for breaches of their constitutional rights. The lawsuit, which was filed in the Supreme Court yesterday by the law firm Donnovan Collins & Company, seeks damages for false imprisonment and assault.

The government has made an improved offer on key components of the 28-point claim from the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA), which will be placed before delegates for a decision early this week. Mark Malabver, president of the JTA, told The Gleaner that the government has responded to what he termed “some deal breakers”, and the delegates will decide on them at the association’s 62nd annual conference, which begins in Kingston today.

When voters in Florida go to the polls tomorrow to vote in the Democratic Party primary elections, a number of candidates with Jamaican roots are hoping they will come out victorious and go on to the general election on November 3. Among those hoping voters will give them a win are Jamaica-born Dale Holness and Kaysia Earley, who has Jamaican roots. Holness is running in Congressional District 20, while Earley is running in Congressional District 22.

Hi, boys and girls! Have you ever wondered why bubbles form, how plants grow or what makes things fizz, mix and change? That’s where science comes in! Science is all about discovering how and why things work, and a scientist is someone who asks questions, investigates, and uses tests and experiments to learn more about the world around us.

The Gleaner headline of Friday, August 17, 1951, was ominous: “Hurricane may hit Jamaica today: Bad weather from noon, Crisis in evening.” It was not a sensational prediction. By the time it was over, more than 150 people had died, many thousands were left homeless, including an estimated 9,000 in the Corporate Area alone, and the trail of destruction included catastrophic infrastructure and business losses that dealt a severe blow to the economy.

Jamaica will have to change its laws and policies to address the perennial problem of patients remaining in public hospitals long after they are medically discharged, Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton has warned. Tufton, who has raised concerns about the number of social cases at hospitals across the island on numerous occasions in recent years, reiterated yesterday that the situation is consuming scarce beds and resources needed by acutely ill patients.

The government has made an improved offer on key components of the 28-point claim from the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA), which will be placed before delegates for a decision early this week. Mark Malabver, president of the JTA, told The Gleaner that the government has responded to what he termed “some deal breakers”, and the delegates will decide on them at the association’s 62nd annual conference, which begins in Kingston today.

Backpacks can be fashionable and functional, but they can also be too heavy – weighed down by digital devices, musical instruments, sports equipment and more. Some kids carry home a laptop or tablet and textbooks, too. It’s good to be prepared, but kids who walk to school or participate in extracurricular activities may be lugging more than their bodies can handle. Lockers and classroom storage aren’t available everywhere – and a child carrying too much weight might not be ready to learn.

WESTERN BUREAU: The Montego Bay Cancer Support Group (MBCSG) is sounding the alarm over what it says is a disturbing pattern of cancer patients being dismissed, delayed and treated with little compassion at Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH) because of the stigma surrounding their illness. The advocacy group says patients have been turned away from emergency care, left waiting for hours or even days despite life-threatening conditions, and subjected to dismissive attitudes from some medical staff.

A St Thomas resident says he is preparing for a court battle after discovering that another individual is seeking to obtain title to a half-acre property he has occupied and maintained for more than 15 years under Jamaica’s adverse possession laws. Fearing reprisal, the man asked The Sunday Gleaner not to use his given name. Instead, we will call him John Duffus.

Inside Bellevue Hospital’s emergency room, privacy is little more than a partition. Three cubicles have been carved out of a small room, allowing doctors to interview patients and relatives while others sit just a few feet away. Every conversation competes with another. A relative describing a family crisis can be easily heard by a stranger waiting nearby. A patient discussing hallucinations or suicidal thoughts can find another family listening in. And, when the patient is manic or psychotic, there is no guarantee that even a partition will contain what happens next.

Retired real estate investor and shareholder in New Falmouth Resorts Limited Marcia Ann Chisholm has expressed strong disapproval of last week’s bulldozing of homes in Cooper’s Pen, Trelawny, insisting that her late father would have opposed the move. New Falmouth Resorts Limited, a brokerage company now with “in removal” status, according to Companies Office of Jamaica (COJ) records, is the legal owner of the 705-acre property now at the centre of national discourse.

NEW YORK (AP): For those trapped in rubble after an earthquake, survival depends on many factors, including weather and access to water and air. If their injuries aren’t too severe, victims can survive for a week or more, assuming the weather isn’t too hot or cold, experts say. Two days after a powerful deadly earthquake struck western Colombia, rescue teams are racing against the clock to search for survivors.

WESTERN BUREAU: The Montego Bay Cancer Support Group (MBCSG) is sounding the alarm over what it says is a disturbing pattern of cancer patients being dismissed, delayed and treated with little compassion at Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH) because of the stigma surrounding their illness. The advocacy group says patients have been turned away from emergency care, left waiting for hours or even days despite life-threatening conditions, and subjected to dismissive attitudes from some medical staff.

A St Thomas resident says he is preparing for a court battle after discovering that another individual is seeking to obtain title to a half-acre property he has occupied and maintained for more than 15 years under Jamaica’s adverse possession laws. Fearing reprisal, the man asked The Sunday Gleaner not to use his given name. Instead, we will call him John Duffus.

Inside Bellevue Hospital’s emergency room, privacy is little more than a partition. Three cubicles have been carved out of a small room, allowing doctors to interview patients and relatives while others sit just a few feet away. Every conversation competes with another. A relative describing a family crisis can be easily heard by a stranger waiting nearby. A patient discussing hallucinations or suicidal thoughts can find another family listening in. And, when the patient is manic or psychotic, there is no guarantee that even a partition will contain what happens next.

Retired real estate investor and shareholder in New Falmouth Resorts Limited Marcia Ann Chisholm has expressed strong disapproval of last week’s bulldozing of homes in Cooper’s Pen, Trelawny, insisting that her late father would have opposed the move. New Falmouth Resorts Limited, a brokerage company now with “in removal” status, according to Companies Office of Jamaica (COJ) records, is the legal owner of the 705-acre property now at the centre of national discourse.

The Caribbean has strengthened its influence in legislative drafting across the Commonwealth with the presidency now occupied by Jamaican attorney-at-law and legislative drafter Michelle Daley, who was elected president of the Commonwealth Association of Legislative Council (CALC) at the body’s conference in Singapore last month.

Jamaicans for Justice (JFJ) wants the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) to indicate why its members were present as part of what appears to have been a private demolition exercise. The lobby made the demand yesterday, citing human rights concerns in the wake of the destruction of houses in Coopers Pen, Trelawny, and the detention of several men from the community by the police before the incident.

Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) President Justice Winston Anderson has rejected allegations that judges at the region’s highest court have been subjected to improper influence or that judicial panels have been manipulated to secure particular outcomes. In a lengthy statement issued against the backdrop of reports of tensions among judges, Anderson said allegations of “panel fixing” and attempts to influence judgments were “wholly untrue”, while acknowledging that some of his own decisions could have been handled differently.

WESTERN BUREAU: Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness has described Monday’s mass demolition at Cooper’s Pen in Trelawny as a “humanitarian crisis”, declaring that neither he, his ministers nor the constituency’s member of parliament (MP) had prior knowledge of the operation. Addressing the controversial demolition exercise yesterday, Holness said images of displaced families, including a mother with a newborn baby, were disturbing and that the Government would have to find ways to support those affected.

SILVER SPRING, Maryland: Downtown Silver Spring was transformed into a vibrant Jamaican marketplace on Sunday as the sights, sounds, aromas and spirit of Jamaica filled Veterans Plaza for the fifth staging of Jamaica Fest, attracting an estimated 8,000 patrons from across the Washington metropolitan area and beyond.

WESTERN BUREAU: Beekeepers and other stakeholders in Jamaica’s apiculture industry are poised to receive educational sessions on how to identify genuine honey and distinguish it from fake or synthesised honey, as well as how to help bee farmers get their honey-based products regularised for the local and international markets.

Western Bureau: A long-awaited road rehabilitation project in Lucea, Hanover, has been temporarily delayed after seawater affected repair works along the town’s main thoroughfare. The National Works Agency (NWA) had announced that work on Seaview Drive would begin on August 10 as part of a $54-million programme aimed at improving several road corridors across the parish. The works were scheduled to start at 9 p.m., when traffic volumes are typically lower.

Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) President Justice Winston Anderson has rejected allegations that judges at the region’s highest court have been subjected to improper influence or that judicial panels have been manipulated to secure particular outcomes. In a lengthy statement issued against the backdrop of reports of tensions among judges, Anderson said allegations of “panel fixing” and attempts to influence judgments were “wholly untrue”, while acknowledging that some of his own decisions could have been handled differently.

WESTERN BUREAU: Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness has described Monday’s mass demolition at Cooper’s Pen in Trelawny as a “humanitarian crisis”, declaring that neither he, his ministers nor the constituency’s member of parliament (MP) had prior knowledge of the operation. Addressing the controversial demolition exercise yesterday, Holness said images of displaced families, including a mother with a newborn baby, were disturbing and that the Government would have to find ways to support those affected.

WESTERN BUREAU: Lothan Cousins, the opposition spokesman on land, is calling on the Government to invoke a decades-old law to halt any further demolition of homes at Cooper’s Pen, Trelawny, arguing that the State has the legal power to protect the remaining residents. Cousins said Section 4 of the Local Communities Amenities Improvement Act provides a mechanism that could be used, pointing to what he described as a similar intervention by the Government at Red Hills in St. Andrew in 2016.

WESTERN BUREAU: Opposition Leader Mark Golding is calling for a national inquiry into how land rights are enforced against vulnerable Jamaicans, arguing that the demolition of homes at Cooper’s Pen, Trelawny, highlights the need for stronger safeguards for longstanding communities. Golding made the call on Thursday as he toured the informal settlement, where several homes were demolished on Monday, leaving families displaced and others fearful that their houses could be next.

The Jamaica Customs Agency (JCA) said last week’s seizure of drugs at the Kingston Freeport Terminal Limited (KFTL) was its largest drug seizure since the start of the year. More than two tonnes of cocaine and 256 pounds of ganja were intercepted in operations conducted between August 5 and 7. The seizures, carried out in collaboration with the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s Firearms and Narcotics Investigation Division and Specialised Operations Branch, involved approximately 1,813 parcels of cocaine in containers destined for Spain and Florida.

An employee of the state-owned oil refinery Petrojam has been arrested and charged by the police arising from allegations that he was part of a ring that illegally sold bullets and gun parts for high-calibre rifles, law- enforcement sources have disclosed. Vashel Witter, 52, a line engineer based at Petrojam’s Montego Bay terminal, was apprehended in the Freeport area on August 6 during a sting operation in which the police allegedly found more than 200 rounds of ammunition for AK-47 rifles inside his vehicle, sources told The Gleaner.

An elderly St Elizabeth man is appealing for the intervention of Justice Minister Delroy Chuck after a court ordered him to vacate land he has lived on for 41 years by Sunday, insisting that he is not a squatter.

The Western Regional Health Authority (WRHA) is better equipped to protect mothers and newborns in communities still recovering from Hurricane Melissa, following a donation of reproductive health and specialised midwifery kits from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). Harold Robinson, UNFPA director and representative for the Caribbean Sub-Regional Office, said the donation marks a shift from immediate emergency assistance to longer-term recovery and health-system resilience.