WESTERN BUREAU: Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) President La Sonja Harrison says the association is waiting patiently to see the revised Jamaica Teaching Council (JTC) Bill before they are tabled, following assurances from Education Minister Senator Dr Dana Morris Dixon that the Government has accepted and acted on several of the teachers’ concerns. Morris Dixon said the Government’s legal teams are now finalising the amendments after she personally reviewed the JTA’s submission.

WESTERN BUREAU: Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) President La Sonja Harrison says she cannot change, declaring that she will continue to challenge the status quo and ask uncomfortable questions on behalf of teachers, even as she acknowledges that her outspoken approach has come at a cost. “I can’t change who I am. I really try not to be a hypocrite, I am a disruptor of the status quo,” Harrison said while addressing the eighth session of the 62nd JTA Conference, which was also attended by Education Minister Senator Dr Dana Morris Dixon on Wednesday.

WESTERN BUREAU: Ahead of the start of the September school term, Education Minister Dr Dana Morris Dixon is urging school administrators to ensure that students obey stipulated dress and grooming guidelines, while also imploring parents to encourage their children to follow the rules set by their schools.

WESTERN BUREAU: Before Beverley Feare could prepare her students for the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations, she first had to find them. Hurricane Melissa had torn through the communities served by Maud McLeod High School in eastern Westmoreland, damaging the school, displacing families, and cutting communication with students at a critical point in their preparation for the examinations.

Cattle farmers in Colbeck, St Catherine, are living in fear as thieves repeatedly enter the community under the cover of darkness, steal their animals and slaughter them in nearby bushes in what the police suspect could be part of an illicit ‘meat for guns’ trade. The latest attacks have left small farmers counting losses in the millions of dollars and accusing the thieves of becoming increasingly bold and sophisticated in their operations.

Students preparing for next year’s Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) examinations will be able to take up to four subjects under the newest qualification, the Caribbean Targeted Education Certificate (CTEC). Following a successful pilot of the CTEC mathematics in this year’s May-June examinations, three additional core subjects –English language, English literature, and integrated science – will be offered next year. The programme is expected to expand to nine subjects during the 2027-2028 academic year.

WESTERN BUREAU: Unresolved issues surrounding their uniform allowance and a graduate policy for educators pursuing further studies were among the main concerns raised by delegates on Tuesday as the Jamaica Teachers’ Association rejected the Government’s wage offer. The rejection was confirmed on Tuesday after delegates voted at the JTA’s 62nd annual conference at the Ocean Coral Spring Resort in Trelawny. Of the 213 delegates, 155 voted against the offer while 54 supported it. There was one spoiled ballot and three rejected ballots.

Jamaica’s economy contracted 2.9 per cent in the April to June quarter, but the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) has shortened its projected recovery timeline to two years, from three. “Given the pace of recovery so far, the current expected timeline for attaining pre-Melissa output levels is now within one and a half to two years of the event, that is, as early as the April to June quarter of 2027,” PIOJ Director General Dr Wayne Henry said at the organisation’s quarterly media briefing yesterday.

Jamaica-born and Florida-based businessman Ricky Wade has expanded his holdings of McDonald’s franchises. Wade told The Gleaner that his company has acquired an additional five franchises in central and western Florida, bringing his total holdings to 33 McDonald’s stores. Additionally, his daughter, Devon-Ashley Wade, has also acquired her own McDonald’s franchise in Delray Beach, Florida. The younger Wade acquired her franchise store on June 15, and one month later, the family business closed on the five new stores.

Cattle farmers in Colbeck, St Catherine, are living in fear as thieves repeatedly enter the community under the cover of darkness, steal their animals and slaughter them in nearby bushes in what the police suspect could be part of an illicit ‘meat for guns’ trade. The latest attacks have left small farmers counting losses in the millions of dollars and accusing the thieves of becoming increasingly bold and sophisticated in their operations.

Recognising that every child deserves the best possible start in life, the Early Childhood Commission (ECC) has embarked upon the National Administration of the Ages and Stages Questionnaire-Jamaica (ASQ-J), a nationwide developmental screening initiative which continues until September 4.

El-Nathan Pitkin, Dayanna Jackson and Janae Haywood arrived at the 2026 JamCoders programme hoping to sharpen their technical skills. They left with something more valuable: greater confidence, resilience, and a new way of approaching challenges. The three students come from different schools and have different ambitions. Yet, each credits the programme with reshaping not only how they think about coding, but also how they think about themselves.

Businesswoman Lisa Hanna is facing an $8-million lawsuit over an aborted documentary project, with Neish Creative Group Limited, the production company behind the film, accusing her of breaching their agreement. Hanna has, however, fired back with a defamation counterclaim against the company’s principal, Jason Neish, over a message he allegedly sent to her husband, and is seeking damages for interference with her marital relationship.

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.