The WILLIAM SKINNER report w/ RULA BROWN on Marijuana (Ganja) and the current move to pass laws to legalize the drug..... Friday Feb 7, 2014 on www.RulaBrownNetwork.com at 10:30am ET.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           













The William Skinner report on Marijuana (Ganja) and the current move to pass laws
to legalize the drug.Cannabis, also known as marijuana[3] (from the Mexican Spanish marihuana[citation needed]), and by numerous other names,a[›] is apreparation of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug and as medicine.[4][5][6] Pharmacologically, the principalpsychoactive constituent of cannabis is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC); it is one of 483 known compounds in the plant,[7] including at least 84 other cannabinoids, such as cannabidiol (CBD), cannabinol (CBN), tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV),[8][9] and cannabigerol (CBG).
Cannabis is often consumed for its psychoactive and physiological effects, which can include heightened mood or euphoria, relaxation,[10] and increase in appetite.[11] Unwanted side-effects can sometimes include a decrease in short-term memory, dry mouth, impaired motor skills, reddening of the eyes,[10] and feelings of paranoia or anxiety.[12] more

VYBZ KARTEL MURDER TRIAL: Cop Tells Court There Are Criminals In The Force....... “This is Jamaica and there are lot of criminals in some organisations.” Rogers: “Even in the police force?” “Even in the Jamaica Constabulary Force,”

A senior police investigator, testifying in the Vybz Kartel murder trial, this morning told the court that there are criminals within the ranks of the Jamaica Constabulary Force. 

Deputy Superintendent Vernal Thompson who headed the Criminal Investigation Branch of the St Andrew North Police Division at the time of Kartel’s arrest in 2011, made the admission during cross examination by defence attorney Pierre Rodgers, the lawyer for co-accused, Kahira Jones. 

Thompson was responding to evidence given earlier, that persons other than the dedicated forensic examiner were interfering with the phones taken from Kartel as well as the data in the instrument. .

READ: Policeman quizzed on unauthorised use of phone allegedly containing evidence 

“I am most concerned but not surprised,” Thompson said.  “This is Jamaica and there are lot of criminals in some organisations.” Rogers: “Even in the police force?” “Even in the Jamaica Constabulary Force,” Thompson responded. more

IN JAMAICA: Two entertainers among five people arrested for lottery scamming

KINGSTON, Jamaica -- The police have confirmed that two entertainers, a male and a female, were among five people taken into custody on Monday, February 3, suspected of being involved in lottery scamming.
Reports from the police are that about 4:00 pm members of the New Kingston Police Post were conducting a routine stop and search operation along Knutsford Boulevard when a motorist was cited for breaching the Road Traffic Act.
The motorist who did not have a driver's licence in his possession gave name which turned out to be fictitious. Further investigations were conducted that resulted in the Lottery Scam Task Force being called in.
As a result the driver and the two occupants of the motor vehicle were detained.
Consequently, a probe was launched and an operation conducted at a house in the Kingston 5 area, which is the residence of one of the occupants of the motor vehicle, the police said. more

Tessanne-Mania Is A National Embarrassment

Songbird Tessanne Chin with her winning trophy. - Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer
Songbird Tessanne Chin with
 her winning trophy. - Ricardo Makyn/
Staff Photographer

Keiran King, Gleaner Columnist

Let's get one thing out of the way: Tessanne Chin can sing. Not like your sister-in-law in the church choir. This girl can grab a note and raise your ancestors with it. After years of hard work - hustling restaurants, hotels, corporate soirees, soca fetes, Jazz & Blues - she deserved a break.

Thirteen weeks on American network television qualified big time. Her life will never be the same. She now has a bona fide recording contract with Universal Music Group and a guaranteed crack at the biggest media market in the world. That's awesome-sauce (I think that means 'really good'). We should all be so fortunate.

Keiran King
Kieran King
But this isn't about Tessanne. This is about us. The rest of us. The 2.8 million of us who aren't her, who sat glued to our screens every Monday night for months, who generated a never-ending stream of Facebook and Twitter posts like so many hyperactive schoolgirls, who bought T-shirts emblazoned with empty slogans, who plastered results in our workplaces, who harassed our relatives abroad to vote, who all in all behaved as if this privileged 28-year-old entertainer was the persecuted civil-rights leader on whose shoulders the very future of the country depended. more

Jamaica's first woman prime minister the overwhelming choice of the hungry masses.....Her special gift was not the power of articulation attributed to her predecessors Norman Manley, Michael Manley or P J Patterson.

Portia Simpson Miller
THIS interview must, of earnest duty, begin with a solemn warning. Those who don't wish, or can't afford to be completely mesmerised, would do well to avoid being in the prolonged presence of Portia Simpson Miller.
Michael manley
Like all those tapped by fate for greatness in this life, she is possessed of endless charisma, an enchanting personality and a bewitching aura that have been enriched by 40 years of tramping back and forth across Jamaica's gruelling political campaign trail.
The unmistakable lesson taught by the wisdom of the ages is that history never errs in appointing human beings to their special place in life. Why, for example, let us ask, was Portia Lucretia Simpson chosen to become Jamaica's first woman prime minister? She was not to the manor born. Nor was she the most educated Jamaican woman. Her special gift was not the power of articulation attributed to her predecessors Norman Manley, Michael Manley or P J Patterson.
PJ Patterson
But Portia Simpson Miller became prime minister of Jamaica for the right reason. She was the overwhelming choice of the hungry masses, the poor and indigent, the voiceless and forgotten, the far descendants of beaten slaves, whose only power was to elect themselves a political saviour and rest in her their impatient hope for even temporary relief. History, indeed, does not err. more
In the bowels of Trench Town

KARTEL TRIAL: Witness tells of foul odour at Vybz Kartel house.....he had smelt a foul odour, "like the scent of a dead animal", inside the Havendale home of entertainer Vybz Kartel where Williams is believed to have been killed.

THE man who led the investigation into the alleged murder of Clive 'Lizard' Williams testified yesterday that he had smelt a foul odour, "like the scent of a dead animal", inside the Havendale home of entertainer Vybz Kartel where Williams is believed to have been killed.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Vernal Thompson, who is in charge of criminal investigations for the St Andrew North Police Division, testified also that the inside of the house was set on fire following his first visit to the premises on August 22, in relation to the probe. He said the caution tape he strung around the perimeter of the premises was torn down.
Additionally, Thompson, who was being led in his examination-in-chief by attorney Jeremy Taylor during the murder trial in the Home Circuit Court, said that on a subsequent visit to the house, on September 30 he noticed that the back of the house had been demolished.
Thompson said he tried ascertaining who was responsible for the demolition, but to no avail.
Regarding the foul odour, Thompson testified that he noticed it when he went to the home on August 29, 2011. He said he detected the scent in the living room area and another room in the house..
Moments earlier, Thompson testified that he had smelt "a strong fragrance similar to that of Fabuloso disinfectant". He said he detected the "same fragrance" in "another cubicle inside the house" on Swallowfield Avenue. more

Sport: Jamaica expected to send ‘strong’ team to World Relays

JAMAICA is expected to send its strongest team to the IAAF World Relays in The Bahamas despite not having a trial prior to the event set for May 24 and 25.
Dr Warren Blake, president of the Jamaica Athletic Administrative Association (JAAA), didn't envisage any problems in team selection when he spoke with the Jamaica Observer. "We will be selecting the team the same way we have done with the Penn Relays teams that comes on a month before and the World Indoors," said Dr Blake.
"We write to the coaches and the athletes' reps and get in touch with them and they will recommend which of their athletes will be available and then we choose the best team out of what is available at the time," he noted.
The first edition of the 2014 IAAF World Relays will serve as a qualifying competition for the 2015 IAAF World Championships and is expected to have more than 1,000 athletes and team officials from 40 nations for the event. The top-eight teams to place in the 4x100m and 4x400m events at the IAAF World Relays Bahamas 2014 shall automatically qualify for the IAAF World Championships Beijing 2015. more

D.C. Council Votes To Decriminalize Marijuana

The nation’s capital just got a step closer to loosening its marijuana laws.
Under the current law, someone caught with a joint in Washington, D.C., can be arrested and jailed for six months. But on Tuesday, the District council voted overwhelmingly for a bill that would eliminate criminal penalties for possessing a small amount of the drug.
Main Entry ImageIf Mayor Vincent Gray and Congress both support the bill, as expected, individuals stopped with an ounce or less of marijuana would face a $25 fine at most. People caught smoking in public would still be subject to arrest..
For years, pot advocates have criticized the District's marijuana restrictions for disproportionately targeting its black community, despite evidence (includinggovernment surveys) showing that blacks are no more likely than whites to use the drug. According to the Washington Lawyers' Committee, arrest statistics from 2009 through 2011 revealed that 9 out of 10 people arrested for drugs in Washington were black, though blacks make up slightly more than half of the city’s population. more

RONNIE THWAITES: Schools should include Cultural studies in curriculum, says Education Minister.....“The potential of greatness lies within every Jamaican in every town, district and community across this blessed country,”

KINGSTON, Jamaica -- Education Minister, Rev Ronald Thwaites, says schools should consider incorporating cultural studies in their curriculum, in order to enable students to have a greater understanding and appreciation of their heritage.
Rev Thwaites was speaking at the official launch of Jamaica Day activities at the Ministry in Kingston on Tuesday.
“If our young people are to settle down, learn well and appreciate who they are, then we will have to craft a new understanding of cultural studies in our schools,” the minister said.
He added that cultural studies should not only be used for performances, but for a deeper “understanding of how we are made and how we are crafted, in order to be able to advance the welfare of the whole human race.”
“The potential of greatness lies within every Jamaican in every town, district and community across this blessed country,” he said.
Schools islandwide will observe Jamaica Day on Friday, February 28, under the theme: ‘Celebrating Jamaica: Sporting Greatness in My Community’. more

IN JAMAICA: Mob burns house of alleged 19 y-o St Thomas killer of 8 y-o child......Seaforth Police Station demanding that the man be handed over to them so they could administer their own form of justice.

ST THOMAS, Jamaica — The community of Top Hill and surrounding districts in St Thomas are still reeling from the shocking news that an eight-year-old child was brutally murdered and possibly raped Monday afternoon.
The police Tuesday confirmed that the little girl, Celeena Edmore, was hauled into bushes and her throat slashed.
A 19-year-old man was held shortly after the murder. 
On Tuesday an angry mob burnt the house where the alleged child-killer lived. The mob then converged at the Seaforth Police Station demanding that the man be handed over to them so they could administer their own form of justice.
Trauma counsellors from the Ministry of Education and members of the Victim Support Unit were on hand at the child’s White Hall Primary School Tuesday to offer support to staff and students. The police say that a post mortem will be done to determine if the eight-year-old was also raped. more

Vybz Kartel Trial: Information on phone card modified hours after seizure by police......He denied adding a section to the tape about chopping up Lizard “fine, fine”.

KINGSTON, Jamaica -- Evidence before the court in the Vybz Kartel murder trial has shown that the SD card from the phone with a message about chopping up ‘Lizard’ was modified on September 30, hours after it was seized in the murder investigation.
However Police Detective Patrick Linton said that he never modified any information on the SD card.
He denied adding a section to the tape about chopping up Lizard “fine, fine”. Linton previously testified that persons not authorised by him had used a phone seized in the Vybz Kartel murder case. 
He said that he didn't authorise anyone to use the phone on October 6 and 9th 2011. But under further cross examination Tuesday by attorney-at-law Pierre Rogers, who asked if unauthorised persons used the phone, Linton said that he couldn't speak to unauthorised persons using the phone. 
Kartel, and four co-accused are on trial for the August 2011 murder of Clive ‘Lizard’ Williams. more

IN JAMAICA: Seventh annual Youth View Awards (YVA).... A night for the stars...ZENDAYA, I-OCTANE, SAMANTHA-J, T.O.K, Miss Kitty, KONSHENS, CHRONIXX,

T.O.K- :Shell It Dung"
AN Elegant Affair Events executed the seventh annual Youth View Awards, on February 1, 2014, at the National Indoor Sports Centre.
The Youth View Awards serve as the premium entertainment awards show in Jamaica, and was headlined by international recording artiste and Disney's Shake It Up actress Zendaya.
Zendaya performed two songs, including her Billboard chart staple Replay, to a resounding feedback from her Jamaican fanbase. During her set, she brought out upcoming American R&B singer-actor Trevor Jackson, who swooned the many ladies in attendance with his stellar vocals.
Miss Kitty, who took home the Media Personality of the Year award, hosted the proceedings with interactive emceeing perfect for the younger demographic of patrons. Her entrance included dancers draped in African and Meso-American influenced outfits, with Miss Kitty receiving gleeful responses to her flexible dance moves.
Zendaya and Trevor Jackson
SAMANTHA-J- Hot Gal Anthem
This was followed by T.O.K's performance of their popular comeback single Shell It Down on the Bumayae riddim by Major Lazer. more

Jamaica's Sherone Simpson back before doping panel for drug case...

SPORT

Sherone back before Panel


Sherone Simpson
THE Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO) drug case involving 2008 Olympic 100m silver medallist Sherone Simpson will resume today at the Jamaica Conference Centre. Simpson failed a drug test at t ... More

IN MICHIGAN: A man won a $3.1 million lottery. He spent it all on cocaine and was charged with murder!

His name was Willie Hurt and he did end up hurt! Hurt was a family man, happily married and the sort that is kind of known in the community. He hit his jackpot in 1989 after winning $3.1 million in the Michigan Lottery and you can compute how much that would be worth today. Anyway, after getting rich, the man abandoned his wife and lost custody of his children. To add insult to injury, he blew the loot and was even charged with attempted murder!
Lottery-man-blows-it-all-charged-with-murder
His attorney argued that all the cash went toward his shambolic divorce and his addiction to crack cocaine. He also made his way into the lottery books by being named the Top 10 tragedies to winners of the lottery.
The lottery seems to do more harm than good for many of the winners: there are stories of alcohol and drug abuse and other avenues of money squandering, folks who come out of the woodwork alleging to be family and wanting a share of the pie, you name it: all for the money. more

Youth curfew: West Kingston residents support police programme to get children off the streets. Do you think this will help to reduce the crime in JA?

Senior Superintendent of Police
 Steve McGregor (left) listens to
residents yesterday as they
protest the death of a detainee in
 the Darling Street Police lock-up
in West Kingston. McGregor later
 announced a programme to get
children under the age of 17
POLICE were last night scheduled to start a nine o'clock curfew for children under 17 years old in the often volatile West Kingston section of the capital as part of a crusade against crime, winning immediate support from residents.
"I endorse the programme, and all the other residents in Rose Town support the programme fully," said Patricia Stanford. Peaches Watson, who lives in Trench Town, agreed. "Residents in Trench Town are all willing to work with the police on this programme," she said.
Both women were among approximately 20 adults from West Kingston communities attending the launch of the programme at Denham Town Police Station yesterday afternoon. "The programme is one of several initiatives that will be implemented in the area, and is part of an effort by the police to return discipline in the area and keep youngsters who are being lured by gangs out of crime," Senior Superintendent Steve McGregor told the residents. more

Couple die of carbon monoxide poisoning while having sex in car: police

WILLIAMSPORT -- Making love in a car with the engine running in an enclosed garage proved fatal for a man and woman in Lycoming County.
2014 Chevrolet SSKeith Payton, 40, of Allenwood and Williamsport, and Salina Johnson, 40 of Williamsport, were discovered about 9:30 p.m. Friday in a garage along Bloomingrove Road north of Williamsport.
Old Lycoming Township police speculated the two were having a sexual relationship when they were overcome because Johnson was partially clad. Marijuana and drug paraphernalia were found in the car, they said.
The car’ s ignition switch was on but the vehicle had run out of gasoline, they said. A kerosene heater also was on but it, too, had run out of fuel, they said. High levels of carbon monoxide were detected in the garage, police said.
The couple were pronounced dead at 10:45 p.m. Friday, but police said they had died sometime earlier. Carbon monoxide poisoning was the cause of death, County Coroner Charles E. Kiessling Jr. said Sunday. more

JAMAICA: Careers & Education, Rodean Sylvester 14-y-o worker bee

YORK Castle High School star pupil Rodean Sylvester has not always had it easy, but one could never tell judging by her accomplishments.
SYLVESTER... I just try to humble myself
and do my thing at home
(PHOTO: NAPHTALI JUNIOR
The fifth-form student was raised by her mom who is a postmistress at the Moneague Post Office in St Ann; and while she has never been able to provide a life of luxury for her only child, Sylvester learned to find pleasure in the simple things in life.
Two of those interests she developed over the years were the care of bees and farming. Last year, the 14-year-old student placed first in the parish for her knowledge of bee care and management in the Jamaica 4-H Club competition. She then entered the national competition and came third overall.
"I find it fascinating," she said of her latest obsession. "The bees are so small and they work so hard." more

1US$=J$107.66 on Monday, February 3, 2014........Meanwhile, the Canadian dollar traded for J$97.20 and the British pound ended trading at J$176.77

KINGSTON, Jamaica — The US dollar traded at an average J$107.66 on Monday, February 3, 2014, according to the Bank of Jamaica’s daily foreign exchange trading summary.
Trading closed at an average J$107.75 to one $US on Friday, January 31.
Meanwhile, the Canadian dollar traded for J$97.20 and the British pound ended trading at J$176.77 on Monday. more

River Power - Jamaica Could Double Hydroelectric Output Using Four Rivers, Study Shows.......could generate as much as 67.7 gigawatt-hours annually

A pre-feasibility study on the prospects for hydropower generation from five of Jamaica's rivers has indicated the country could nearly double the existing hydropower capacity if investors tap four of those sources.
Winston Watson
Winston Watson
The study, conducted by SP Studio Pietrangeli, an Italian consulting engineering services firm, on behalf of the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ), found that the Rio Cobre in St Catherine, the Negro River in St Thomas, Martha Brae River in Trelawny and Spanish River in Portland could generate as much as 67.7 gigawatt-hours annually and represent viable options for providing affordable renewable electricity to the national grid.
The study found that the four waterways have the combined potential generating capacity of more than 25 megawatts (MW). Hydropower currently accounts for 30MW of installed capacity on the national grid. more

St. Thomas, JAMAICA: 8-Y-O Celena Edmond, a student of White Hall Primary School in the parish St Thomas Murdered......her neck slashed three times and hands bound. Her blouse was missing.

Yallahs, St Thomas:
An eight-year-old girl was found murdered in Top Hill, St Thomas, yesterday afternoon.
The child has been identified as Celena Edmond, a student of White Hall Primary School in the parish.
Residents reported that her body was found in bushes with her neck slashed three times and hands bound. Her blouse was missing.
Unconfirmed reports are that the child was sent on her regular trip to a shop about a quarter of a mile from her home to purchase meat.
The residents said an elderly man was coming from his farm when he spotted another man with the child on a lonely bushy path to the shop.
The elderly man reportedly called out to the man with the child, asking him what he was doing with her and warning that he intended to call the police.
The elderly man went into the community and made an alarm.
A search ensued and the child's body was spotted in the bushes by residents. As a large crowd gathered at the crime scene, another crowd was at the Seaforth Police Station where a suspect was being held.
Residents of Top Hill said the accused has a history of crime.
Detectives from the Morant Bay Criminal Investigation Bureau and the Seaforth police are investigating. more
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'Bunny Rugs' of Third World is dead

Photo: Rip Bunny Rugs the leader of thirdworld passed away this morningKINGSTON, Jamaica --William ‘Bunny Rugs’ Clarke former lead singer of the popular band Third World has died in a Miami hospital.
Clarke who would have turned 66 on Thursday, February 6, had been in intensive care for some time.
He missed a number of engagements linked with the celebration of Third World’s 40th anniversary last year but it was generally felt that he would have recovered enough to return to Jamaica this month.
01Clarke was born in Mandeville and replaced ‘Prilly’ Hamiltion as lead singer for the band in 1976. His first album with the band was ‘96 degrees in the Shade’ but is best known for the hits ‘Now that we found Love’ an O’Jays original, and ‘Try Jah Love’. more 

IN JAMAICA: Rastafarians Make Case For Reoccupying Pinnacle Lands

The Occupy Pinnacle movement says it is gearing up to reinhabit the historical lands and birthplace of Rastafarianism, 'The Pinnacle', in St Jago Hills.
Robert 'Ras Kaleb' Gordon, leader of the Occupy Pinnacle movement and secretary of the Rastafarian Youth Initiative Council, said yesterday that the movement was on a mission to take back land that "rightfully belongs to them"..
Jerome 'Divine' Nelson looks on as Robert 'Ras Kaleb' Gordon, leader of the Occupy Pinnacle movement, makes a point to The Gleaner while on a tour yesterday of The Pinnacle in St Jago Hills, St Catherine. - Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer
Jerome 'Divine' Nelson looks on as
Robert 'Ras Kaleb' Gordon,
leader of the Occupy Pinnacle movement,
makes a point
 to The Gleaner while on a tour yesterday of
The Pinnacle in St Jago Hills, St Catherine.
 - Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer
Yesterday, members of the Gleaner team toured the land that marked the start of Rastafarianism that gave Jamaica major international recognition through its reggae music and rich cultural practices.
"This is just the beginning of occupying back The Pinnacle, as the lands should be restituted to the Rastafarian community. In 2009, the Rastafari Millennium Council identified six lots and the Government has only declared one to us," Gordon explained.
Gordon pointed out that it would have been better if they had received three out of the six lots identified. However, he said the group would be going after all six lots it says belong to it. more 

IN JAMAICA: Cold Case Freeze - Thousands Of Unsolved Murders Are Decades Old - Retired Cop Says Police Talented, But Have No Time

Cold Case Freeze - Thousands Of Unsolved Murders Are Decades Old - Retired Cop Says Police Talented, But Have No Time

Nearly a third of the more than 40,000 homicides committed in Jamaica since 1970 have gone cold, and files are languishing on the shelves of some police department with only the pathologist report on the cause of death, a retired police officer told The Gleaner.
"Listen, don't let what the police say fool you. You think anybody investigating Tess Thomas' death. You think anybody investigating your colleague Vincent Tulloch's murder?" asked the now a retired cop, considered one of the finest before he was promoted to desk work.
"Jamaica is a criminal's dream. The probability of being caught, tried and sentenced to death is zilch. That's why the police kill them," he said, giving life to allegations of rogue cops who are part of death squads in the police force - a claim denied by Police Commissioner Owen Ellington.
The retired cop said deceased families will also die without seeing someone punished for their loved ones' death.....
Teresa 'Tess' Thomas was a well-known consumer advocate in the 1990s. She was shot and killed at her Maryland, St Andrew, home in January 1999. Fourteen years later, her murder is unsolved....more

Christina Genovese Renna, Chris Christie Staffer, Resigns Amid Probe.

TRNETON, N.J. (AP) — A member of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's administration who has been subpoenaed in an alleged political payback investigation has resigned.
christina genovese renna resigns
Gov. Christie
Christina Genovese Renna left the governor's office Friday, the same day former Christie loyalist David Wildstein claimed to have evidence contradicting the governor's account of a lane closing operation, apparently to create traffic chaos as a political vendetta.
Renna reported to Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Kelly, who apparently set the lane closings in motion with an email to Wildstein. Renna confirmed her resignation to The Associated Press through a statement Sunday from her lawyer, Henry Klingeman. In it, Renna says she has been considering leaving since after the November election, which Christie won decisively. Renna is among 17 people close to Christie subpoenaed by a legislative panel..... more

IN JAMAICA , Careers & Education : 12 y-o Tajay Barker awarded by Western Medical Association.

TWELVE-YEAR-OLD Tajay Barker was very excited when he found out he was the top boy at Granville Primary School in last year's GSAT exams and was awarded a government placement at Herbert Morrison Technical High School in Montego Bay, St James.
Twelve-year-old Tajay with his father
Derrick Barker and mother Suzette Groves-Barker
 after being awarded a laptop from the
 Western Medical Association for being
 top boy at Granville Primary School.
However, the youngster became depressed shortly before going to high school, because his father was diagnosed with a medical condition. Nonetheless, he found a reason to smile again when the doctors from the Western Medical Association (WMA) gave him a laptop in recognition of his hard work.
"When he started going to school, his father became really ill," said his mother Suzette Groves-Barker.
"Tajay was a little bit down, but when the medical place called and I gave him the news, he was really excited and it was like a turning point for him."
The WMA awarded both Barker and Granville Primary School top girl Anna-Kay Brown laptops valued at over $100,000 during a ceremony two weeks ago at the Wexford Hotel. Brown is currently a student at Westwood High School. Groves-Barker said her son, who is her only child, has been taking even more interest in his school work since getting the laptop. Fortunately, her husband was able to recover from his illness, which made the youngster even happier. more