Dangerous chemicals linked to breast cancer – study Seven ways to lower exposure.....1) Limit exposure to exhaust from vehicles or generators, don't idle your car, and use electric lawn mowers, leaf blowers and weed whackers instead of gas-powered ones. 2) Use a ventilation fan while cooking and limit how much burned or charred food you eat. 3) Do not buy furniture with polyurethane foam, or ask for furniture that has not been treated with flame retardants. 4) Avoid stain-resistant rugs, furniture and fabrics & more....

Monday, May 12, 2014 | 1:19 PM
WASHINGTON, USA (AFP) -- Certain chemicals that are common in everyday life have been shown to cause breast cancer in lab rats and are likely to do the same in women, US researchers said Monday.
The paper in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives lists 17 chemicals to avoid and offers women advice on how to minimise their exposure.
They include chemicals in gasoline, diesel and other vehicle exhaust, flame retardants, stain-resistant textiles, paint removers, and disinfection by-products in drinking water.
"The study provides a road map for breast cancer prevention by identifying high-priority chemicals that women are most commonly exposed to and demonstrates how to measure exposure," said study author Ruthann Rudel, research director of the Silent Spring Institute.
"This information will guide efforts to reduce exposure to chemicals linked to breast cancer, and help researchers study how women are being affected," she said.
Some of the biggest sources of mammary carcinogens in the environment are benzene and butadiene, which can come from vehicle exhaust, lawn equipment, tobacco smoke, and charred food.
Other concerns are cleaning solvents like methylene chloride, pharmaceuticals used in hormone replacement therapy, some flame retardants, chemicals in stain-resistant textiles and non-stick coatings, and styrene which comes from tobacco smoke and is also used to make Styrofoam, the study said.
Carcinogens can also be found in drinking water, researchers said.
"Every woman in America has been exposed to chemicals that may increase her risk of getting breast cancer," said co-author Julia Brody.
"Unfortunately, the link between toxic chemicals and breast cancer has largely been ignored. Reducing chemical exposures could save many, many women's lives."
Brody described the paper as the first to comprehensively list potential breast carcinogens and detail ways for experts to measure them in women's blood and urine.
The study also recommends seven ways for women to avoid these chemicals:
1) Limit exposure to exhaust from vehicles or generators, don't idle your car, and use electric lawn mowers, leaf blowers and weed whackers instead of gas-powered ones.
2) Use a ventilation fan while cooking and limit how much burned or charred food you eat.
3) Do not buy furniture with polyurethane foam, or ask for furniture that has not been treated with flame retardants.
4) Avoid stain-resistant rugs, furniture and fabrics.
5) If you use a dry-cleaner, find one who does not use PERC (perchloroethylene) or other solvents. Ask for "wet cleaning".
6) Use a solid carbon block drinking water filter.
7) Keep chemicals out of the house by taking off your shoes at the door, using a vacuum with a HEPA (high-efficiency particulate air) filter, and cleaning with wet rags and mops.
The research was funded by the Avon Foundation. The Silent Spring Institute is a 20-year-old organisation made up of scientists who focus on the environment and women's health. more

Luciano Denies UK Visa Woes - Slated To Perform In England This Week....The tour will also feature performances from I.Wayne, Teflon, Ras Omeek, BadRass (aka Jahfet), Hurcules and Fireflames, all backed by Mafia & Fluxy.

Published: Monday | May 12, 2014
REGGAE LEGEND Luciano will headline four shows in the United Kingdom (UK) beginning Thursday, his reps have confirmed.
The news follows claims that the Silver and Gold hitmaker had been unsuccessful in securing a visa to enter the country, forcing him to pull out of the much-anticipated Positive Vibrations tour.
Luciano - FileReps for the star released a statement on Friday, assuring fans that the Jamaican singer was in rehearsals and would arrive in the UK tomorrow.
"After much unfounded speculations and false rumours, which were circulating up and down the country recently that Luciano was unable to get a visa to come to England, promoters and sponsors are glad to announce that the British High Commission in Jamaica granted Luciano, The Messenger, his work visa, valid from the 6th May 2014," the statement started.
"Luciano himself is booked on a British Airways flight, leaving Kingston on Monday May 12 and will arrive in England on the morning of Tuesday May 13, 2014."
Though his management team is unclear how the rumours started, they confirmed Luciano, also known as The Messenger, had promised to give fans "something very special" after "being away for many years".
The tour will also feature performances from I.Wayne, Teflon, Ras Omeek, BadRass (aka Jahfet), Hurcules and Fireflames, all backed by Mafia & Fluxy.

Bob Marley's LEGEND gets new life 30 years after its release....Universal Music Enterprises will be reissuing a commemorative version of Bob Marley's album Legend....Legend holds the distinction of being the longest-charting album in the history of Billboard magazine's of 1,110 weeks and counting.....

Monday, May 12, 2014    
THREE decades after its release, Universal Music Enterprises will be reissuing a commemorative version of Bob Marley's album Legend.
The set, a posthumous compilation of Marley's biggest hits, is due to hit the stores in July.
Legend 30th Anniversary Edition is remixed by Grammy-winning American producer Bob Clearmountain in 5.1 surround sound and
on Blu-Ray audio disc.
Clearmountain has worked with heavy hitters in the music industry including Bruce Springsteen,
The Rolling Stones, Bryan Adams, and Bon Jovi.
Legend's deluxe version includes the early studio recordings of No Woman No Cry and two previously unheard takes of Easy Skanking and Punky Reggae Party.
Classic Marley anthems Three Little Birds, Get Up Stand Up, One Love/People Get Ready, No Woman No Cry, Exodus, Redemption Song and I Shot The Sheriff make the cut.
For the purists, Legend 30th Anniversary Edition will also be made available on tricolor vinyl (yellow, green and red) and pressed as a double gatefold LP allowing for a higher fidelity sound quality that is closer to the original source.
Legend holds the distinction of being the longest-charting album in the history of Billboard magazine's Catalogue Albums chart, 1,110 weeks (and counting) and has been on the Billboard 200 chart since 1988. Marley died on May 11, 1981. He was 36

IN JAMAICA: 23 y-o Shoyea-Gaye Grant is selected as the 2013 Prime Minister's youth awardee for excellence in academics, which adds to her many other accomplishments even while she battles with lupus. Grant graduated last year from the University of the West Indies, Mona, with a 4.0 GPA

BY AINSWORTH MORRIS Career & Education writer Sunday, May 11, 2014    
TWENTY-THREE-YEAR-OLD Shoyea-Gaye Grant is one happy camper.
Having recently been nominated and selected as the 2013 prime minister's youth awardee for excellence in academics, this young woman says she's honoured and humbled by the award, which adds to her many other accomplishments even while she battles with lupus.
GRANT... I’m ecstatic. I’m overwhelmed with joy
Lupus is a chronic inflammatory disease that occurs when the body's immune system attacks its own tissues and organs. Studies by The Mayo Clinic reveal that inflammation caused by lupus can affect many different body systems — including the joints, skin, kidneys, blood cells, brain, heart, and lungs.
Grant graduated last year from the University of the West Indies, Mona, with a 4.0
GPA and consequently a first-class honours bachelor's degree in psychology.
Topping her classes was no easy feat, she says, as she had several bouts with the disease that effectively "took her out of commission".
"Lupus, that's my biggest challenge even to this day. Its unpredictability and the constant pain, fatigue, and general discomfort make my journey a constant struggle," Grant says.
But this was not all. Coupled with illness was the financial struggles that dogged her ability to stay in school and be healthy.
Shoya-Gaye & PM,
Simpson-Miller
"I also faced the challenge of limited financial resources. Financing a university education is a huge burden. That coupled with lupus
was terribly unbearable. I have monthly visits, medication I have to take every day... "Additionally, I'm not an only child, and my mother is recovering from a stroke she had in 2007. My father had to be solely providing for my sisters and myself, along with my mother, and it was rough." more

IN JAMAICA: Mother's Day and Elizabeth McKnight's 105th birthday...."She reads without glasses and she can hear and see very well,".... McKnight names all 66 books in the Bible in their correct order in less than two minutes, without hesitation....."And she does not take any form of medication; the only thing she takes is aspirin."

BY DONNA HUSSEY-WHYTE Sunday Observer Staff reporter husseyd@jamaicaobserver.com  Sunday, May 11, 2014   
Like most mothers, Elizabeth McKnight will today be taken to dinner by her family. That is, of course, after she goes to church.
But today is an even more special day for McKnight. She will celebrate her 105th birthday.
"She is very sharp for her age," said her caregiver, Jacqueline Rowe. "I have worked with other persons in homes and so on and you will find some persons her age not remembering, hearing or things like that. Not so with her, the things that she is doing, those who are 70, 80, and 90 cannot do that."
As if to prove Rowe's point, McKnight names all 66 books in the Bible in their correct order in less than two minutes, without hesitation. She is still able to read large prints without glasses and takes pleasure in reading the headlines of the newspapers.
"Business confidence fell sharply..." McKnight read from last Friday's Caribbean Business Report in the Jamaica Observer.
"She reads without glasses and she can hear and see very well," a proud Gloria Laing, McKnight's niece, told the Sunday Observer at the centenarian's home in Claris Brook, St Elizabeth, Friday. "And she does not take any form of medication; the only thing she takes is aspirin."
McKnight interjected: "I was born in Cameron Hill on May 11th, 1909. So Sunday is my birthday and Mother's Day -- nuff tings in one!"
She attended Glen Stewart Elementary School and completed the Jamaica local exams, which she said was a big deal during her time.
"After that I learnt dressmaking with my sister-in-law. People would bring material come give me and I make their dress and shirt. When it comes onto shirt, you call mi name!" McKnight said then laughed out loud.
She said persons would journey to Claris Brook from as far as Montego Bay with material for her to make shirts with her hand-operated machine. When they returned home, others would see her work and come to her.
"That time mi did name Lizzy! But mi nuh Lizzy again because mi can't sew anymore," she said jokingly.
Laing said her aunt was still sewing up to age 99.
McKnight said she never got married, and reflected on that with great humour. more

MONTEGO BAY, JAMAICA: MoBay blaze leaves 27 homeless, including 11 children after the blaze swept through their seven-house tenement yard at 17 Paradise Row....Daisy Bell-Dewar, 97, who lived in one of the houses at the tenement yard, and had to be rescued by neighbours, said she has lost everything.

By MARK CUMMINGS Editor-at-Large Western Bureau cummingsm@jamaicaobserver.com  Sunday, May 11, 2014   
MONTEGO BAY, St James — An early morning fire yesterday left 27 people, including 11 children homeless, after the blaze swept through their seven-house tenement yard at 17 Paradise Row in the resort city of Montego Bay.
"At approximately 2:06 am we responded to a call received at Paradise Row. Five units responded with a complement of 20 firefighters," District Officer at the St James Department of the Jamaica Fire Brigade O'Neil Kerr, told reporters yesterday.
"Upon arrival we realised that seven houses were being affected by this fire, and we immediately got into operation which lasted for about three hours," added Kerr.
Fire Devastation in Mobay Tenement Yard
Daisy Bell-Dewar, 97, who lived in one of the houses at the tenement yard, and had to be rescued by neighbours, said she has lost everything.
"Everything gone, not even a sweetie to put a mi mouth. I have no shoes, no clothes, nothing to eat...everything gone," said Bell-Dewar, who has been living at Paradise Row for more than four decades.
The elderly woman who lived alone in one of the dilapidated wooden structures, told the Jamaica Observer that shortly before 2:00 am she felt "heat coming in mi face and mi back, so mi sey it look like fire deh 'bout here, so after mi look outside mi see deh fire, and bawl out fi fire."
97 y-o Daisy Bell-Dewar
"After mi bawl out one young man come grab mi and sey 'come grandma' and him tek mi outside and put mi down right yah suh (another house few metres away),"said Bell-Dewar.
Damion Whyte, a mason, who occupied one of the houses on the premises with his two children, aged 12 and four, said he only managed to save a bed and a television set before his two-bedroom house was gutted.
"Mi lose almost everything, only one of mi beds and mi TV mi save. Everything else gone, mi tools, mi pay weh mi get yesterday (Friday) which is about $30,000 bun up, clothes, shoes... everything gone," Whyte wailed. more

Michael Sam Is The First Openly Gay Football Player Drafted Into The NFL....St. Louis Rams selected him with the 249th pick in the seventh round of the 2014 draft. WATCH AS Michael Reacts to Being Drafted by the Rams (VIDEO)


Michael Sam has reached the NFL. The NFL has reached out to Michael Sam. Both milestones made American sports history.
The first-team All-American defensive lineman from the University of Missouribecame the first openly gay player ever drafted into the NFL when the St. Louis Rams selected him with the 249th pick in the seventh round of the 2014 draft. 
Sam, the 2013 SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Year, waited until the eighth-to-last selection to hear his name called at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on Saturday. The 24-year-old from Hitchcock, Texas announced that he was gay in February in interviews with The New York Times and ESPN. He told both media outlets that he came out to his teammates during a preseason football practice before the Tigers' 2013 campaign. Sam went on to lead the SEC in sacks (11.5) and tackles for a loss (19) as Missouri roared to a 12-2 record. more

The Intruders "I'll Always Love My Mama" (1973)....HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY.#HappyMothersDay #BBOJ

Songs of praise for Mother......No Woman Nuh Cry — Bob Marley's somber reflection about living 'inna government yard inna Trench Town' really hits home....No Less Than A Woman -Lady Saw....Thank You Mama — Sizzla

Sunday, May 11, 2014   
No Woman Nuh Cry — Bob Marley's somber reflection about living 'inna government yard inna Trench Town' really hits home.
Bob Marley & Lady Saw
Johnny Was — From the Rastaman Vibration album, Marley pours the pain of a ghetto woman whose son has been gunned down.
No Less Than A Woman — Lady Saw shows she is more than slackness on this ode to women who cannot, or find it difficult, to conceive.
Mother To Be — Earl Sixteen salutes women who nurture and care for the unborn child.
Thank You Mama — Sizzla went deep into his soul for this gem from Da Real Thing album.
Hush Babymother — Judy Mowatt consoles the despondent single mother who must fend for herself and her children.
Princess Black — Edi Fitzroy pays homage to the woman of colour.
SIZZLA & JUDY MOWATT
Mama Don't Cry — Gyptian is the soothing son on this song, one of his early hits.
Stay At Home _ Dennis Brown pleads with the inner-city queen to show dignity in the midst of personal challenges.
Pumpkin Belly — Tenor Saw recalls the lessons of his wise 'ole time Granny' who taught him that 'whatsoever yuh want yuh want, yuh haffi work very hard for it'. more

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY.....THIS WILL MAKE YOU SMILE. ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC! #HappyMothersDay #BBOJ


Maxi Priest returns with "Easy to Love" ......After 35 years in the business, the dreadlocked Priest says he still has the formula to hit the musical mark.

BY HOWARD CAMPBELL Observer senior writer howardgcampbell@yahoo.com  Sunday, May 11, 2014
NOT many reggae singers can boast having number one songs in Britain, the United States and Jamaica. Maxi Priest belongs to that August group.
Priest is looking for more success when he returns to the fray on June 10 with Easy to Love, his new album, which is distributed by VP Records.
MAXI PRIEST
It is the singer's first studio album since 2011's Time of The Year. Priest has enjoyed some pre-release love, with the set's title track getting strong airplay locally.
Easy to Love (the song) is produced by Colin 'Bulby' Yorke. Priest says he heard the 'riddim' through a friend early last year and quickly wrote a song for it.
After 35 years in the business, the dreadlocked Priest says he still has the formula to hit the musical mark.
"From day one it's always been, 'I hope I can make a hit song'. But more importantly, I still love singing and I still love the music," he told the Sunday Observer.
He credits longtime friend Beres Hammond for him recording his first album of original songs in three years.
"The song really did well an' him call mi up an' sey, 'Bwoy Priest, time right fi do a album'."
The latest release from Easy to Love is Gravity, another Yorke production. The song was originally done by John Mayer.
Priest also has great expectations for the Sting International-produced Bubble my Way (with Agent Sasco), and Holiday. The latter is produced by De Red Boyz out of Barbados. more

Drunk Woman Busted For Loud Sex In Airplane Bathroom: Report, An irate young woman had to be restrained after cabin crew members busted up her tryst with a man in the bathroom during a Virgin airlines flight to Las Vegas from London last week.

 | by  Andres Jauregui
What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. What happens on the way to Vegas is apparently everyone's business, whether they want to know about it or not.
An irate young woman had to be restrained after cabin crew members busted up her tryst with a man in the bathroom during a Virgin airlines flight to Las Vegas from London last week.
WOMAN ARRESTED SEX ON AIRPLANEPassengers told UK tabloid The Sun that they saw the woman, who was in her 20s and traveling with her parents, flirting and "getting heated with the guy next to her."
People began to complain about hearing loud sex noises after the couple retreated to a restroom. Crew members forced the restroom door open and thwarted the couple's mile-high induction ceremony.
The woman, who the Daily Mail described as "drunken," became abusive towards the cabin crew and had to be cuffed to her seat. U.S. authorities questioned her once the plane landed, but they let her go with a warning. It's not clear if the woman knew the man whom she joined in the restroom prior to getting on the plane. Virgin Airlines did not respond to the Huffington Post's request for comment.
Other people have gotten in trouble for getting frisky on an airplane. In February, an intoxicated woman was arrested after she got rowdy when passengers on a Delta flight refused her sexual advances. The plane had to be diverted so that she could be taken into custody.

IN JAMAICA: Senior cop James Forbes convicted on corruption charge.... Forbes to appeal conviction. Should Forbes lose his appeal it would bring an end to the 30-year career of a man who was slated for promotion

Saturday, May 10, 2014 Jamaica Observer   
SENIOR Superintendent of Police James Forbes, the cop who in the 1990s became the poster boy of what a clean police force should be, was yesterday convicted on a charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice.
The guilty verdict, handed down by Corporate Area Magistrate Stephanie Jackson-Haisley, makes Forbes the most senior member of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) to be convicted on corruption charges.
FORBES… showed no emotion at the verdict
He's to be sentenced in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court next week Thursday. His bail was extended until then.
Following the conviction, Queen's Counsel Jacqueline Samuels-Brown gave notice that she would be appealing the decision, but Jackson-Haisley told her to wait until after sentencing before she gives notice.
Should Forbes lose his appeal it would bring an end to the 30-year career of a man who was slated for promotion to the post of assistant commissioner just before the arrest.
Yesterday, Forbes showed no emotion at the verdict but earlier he was seen rubbing his fingers relentlessly, and constantly swallowed hard when it became obvious what the decision would be.
In handing down the verdict, the magistrate said she found that Forbes was aware of the circumstances surrounding businessman Bruce Bicknell, in that Bicknell had been arrested and was before the court on allegations that he attempted to bribe a police officer during a traffic stop, when he (Forbes) called the meeting that resulted in a charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice being brought against him.
"The meeting was designed to affect the outcome of the matter against [Mr Bicknell]," Jackson-Haisley told a court packed with stunned police officers. "His act was intended to pervert the course of justice."
The magistrate rejected Forbes' defence and said she found him to be "changing his defence as the trial progressed". She said she also found him to be "insincere and disingenuous" in his testimony. more
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Pope Francis Calls For 'Legitimate Redistribution' Of Wealth To The Poor....On Friday, Francis called for the United Nations to promote a "worldwide ethical mobilization" . WHAT'S YOUR THOUGHT ON THIS?

VATICAN CITY (AP) - Pope Francis called Friday for governments to redistribute wealth to the poor in a new spirit of generosity to help curb the "economy of exclusion" that is taking hold today.
Francis made the appeal during a speech to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the heads of major U.N. agencies who are meeting in Rome this week.
Latin America's first pope has frequently lashed out at the injustices of capitalism and the global economic system that excludes so much of humanity.
POPE FRANCIS
POPE FRANCIS
On Friday, Francis called for the United Nations to promote a "worldwide ethical mobilization" of solidarity with the poor in a new spirit of generosity.
He said a more equal form of economic progress can be had through "the legitimate redistribution of economic benefits by the state, as well as indispensable cooperation between the private sector and civil society."
Francis had a similar message to the World Economic Forum in January and in h is apostolic exhortation "The Joy of the Gospel." That document, which denounced trickle-down economic theories as unproven and naive, provoked criticism in the U.S. that he was Marxist.
Francis has denied he's Marxist, and spent years in Argentina battling Marxist excesses of liberation theology. But he has said from the outset that he wants a church that "is poor and for the poor" and ministers to the most marginal of society.
On Friday, he urged the U.N. to promote development goals that attack the root causes of poverty and hunger, protect the environment and ensure "dignified" labor for all. more

IN JAMAICA: Court says man who killed cop acted in self defence....A 37-year-old man was yesterday acquitted of a charge of murder in the stabbing death of his brother-in-law, who is a police officer, over a $22,000 loan.

Friday, May 09, 2014    
A 37-year-old man was yesterday acquitted of a charge of murder in the stabbing death of his brother-in-law, who is a police officer, over a $22,000 loan.
Desmond Bariff, a labourer of Portmore in St Catherine, was set free after the Justice Marva McDonald Bishop instructed the jurors to enter a formal verdict of not guilty in the trial before the St Catherine Circuit Court.
PhotoBariff, the court was told during the trial that started on Wednesday, stabbed Stijan Wood during a dispute at the Portmore home of Wood's family on November 26, 2010.
Evidence was led that the altercation arose out of an argument over an unpaid loan from Bariff to Wood. It was further alleged that the altercation got physical and Wood was stabbed.
Wood's parents reportedly came out the house and saw him bleeding from the chest.
The policeman, who was assigned to the Mobile Reserve, died leaving a son who was one-year-old at the time.
Bariff handed in himself to the police, and told them that he acted in self defence.
Yesterday, after the crown closed its case, attorney Peter Champagnie made a no-case submission, arguing that the it had not been proven that the accused wasn't acting in self defence.
At the end, McDonald Bishop upheld the submission and instructed the 12-member panel of jurors to return a formal verdict of not guilty. more

Look Up - A Poem That Will Inspire You to Put Down Your Smartphone....This Is A Video EVERYONE Needs To See. For The First Time In My Life, I'm Speechless.

Jamaicans urged to 'beautify the land' on Labour Day 2014, and is encouraging Jamaicans to uplift communities on May 23, under the theme, 'Take a stand... Beautify our Land'

 Friday, May 09, 2014    
THE Ministry of Youth and Culture has launched Workers Week and Labour Day 2014, and is encouraging Jamaicans to uplift communities on May 23, under the theme, 'Take a stand... Beautify our Land'.
Labour Day project at D Frank Early Childhood Institution
 in May 2013. (FILE PHOTO)
A number of activities are planned, such as a church service to be held on May 18 at the Covenant Moravian Church in Kingston, and a public forum at Emancipation Park, to recognise employees during this year's Workers Week, which is being celebrated from May 18 to 23.
The National Labour Day project will be the Climate Change Park in Portmore, St Catherine.
Minister of Youth and Culture Lisa Hanna, who addressed the launch at Jamaica House on Wednesday, emphasised that it is crucial that all Jamaicans make an impact of protecting the natural resources.
"So, if you have environmental issues in your communities, let us get out there and address them. Let us not use Labour Day as a time of rest, use it as a time of work to galvanise the best of who we are," the Minister said.
Hanna also encouraged persons to avail themselves for other projects in their communities.
There will also be a focus on beautifying police stations and posts across the island.
Parish Councils and the Social Development Commission will be facilitating the registration of projects at the parish level, and their personnel will also be actively involved on the day with the various work activities in the communities. more

IN JAMAICA: 32 y-o Woman, Kadian Oshane stabbed several times, dies.....The woman's attacker was immediately set upon by an angry mob, but was rescued by the police..... Yesterday, as the police carried out investigations into the killing, some members of the public expressed anger that the accused killer was rescued by the police.

Friday, May 09, 2014 Jamaica Observer   
A 32-year-old woman was yesterday stabbed to death in a daring attack on North Street in downtown Kingston.
The woman, identified as Kadian Oshane, resident of Penwood Road, Kingston was walking on North Street about 9:00 am when she was attacked by a man who dragged her to a nearby open lot, where he stabbed her several times.
The woman's attacker was immediately set upon by an angry mob, but was rescued by the police.
A policeman at the crime scene on North Street, Kingston
 where a 32-year-old woman was stabbed to death, yesterday.
 (PHOTO: KARL MCLARTY)
The Kingston Central police said they suspect that the man may have been the boyfriend of the victim.
"Is one of the wickedest act. The girl was walking along the road when this man just came up to her and start to attack her," said a frightened looking woman, who said she heard the screams of the woman when she was cornered by the man.
"[It was] the screams for murder me hear and when me look me see a man a run away from the area," said another woman, who was part of a small group who stood close to the murder scene.
"The girl no live no life and that is how them treat her; it's sad," said another woman.
Yesterday, as the police carried out investigations into the killing, some members of the public expressed anger that the accused killer was rescued by the police. They said that the police should have allowed them to beat him to death. more

IN JAMAICA: Solar Savings - Holy Trinity High Cuts Bill In Half With Renewable Energy....."Our light bill was touching nearly $1 million per month and now our light bills are down to $500,000-$600,000 per month, where we can manage it easier.

SHOCKED THAT the approximately $1 million monthly electricitybill at Holy Trinity High School has been cut by half, the country's sole power provider, the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS), made its way to the Central Kingston-based school to investigate whether the reduction was due to meter tampering or abstraction.
Solar panels at the Holy Trinity High School in Kingston.But Holy Trinity, a technical institution with an auto-mechanic centre, cosmetology and computer labs, as well as welding and woodwork workshops, a music department and a home economics department, has plugged into the sun. The school has been relying less on the mainly oil-powered electricity supplied by the JPS.
"Our light bill was touching nearly $1 million per month and now our light bills are down to $500-$600 and odd (thousand) per month, where we can manage it easier. The JPS came because they could not believe the drop that they saw. They came to measure to see what was happening and then they recognised that we had solar panels installed," principalfor the institution, Margaret Brisset-Bolt told The Gleaner.
Brisset-Bolt said it costs approximately $2 million per month to run the school, a tab which does not include wages and salaries. At the same time, the school has an outstanding bill with the JPS, which the principal says they are making every attempt to clear, even as she laments the fact that her institution has been hobbled by low revenues.
Education Minister Ronald Thwaites, in whose constituency Holy Trinity falls, said in the House of Representatives on Wednesday that the experience of schools like Holy Trinity underscores the need for more schools to rely on renewable energy such as solar.
more 

Dancehall, Reggae Mix For Reggae In The Park at Philadelphia, PA.... will be headlined by reggae artiste Matisyahu. Also booked to perform are reggae and dancehall artistes such as Mavado, Konshens, Morgan Heritage, Steel Pulse, The Expendables and Inner Circle, among others..

Published: Friday | May 9, 2014 
Philadelphia's renowned annual reggae festival, Reggae in The Park, will be celebrating its third anniversary this year. The festival in Pennsylvania, USA, has pulled in thousands of patrons in previous years and the organisers are predicting that the 2014 staging will also have a strong turnout.
Matisyahu - Contributed
 Matisyahu
The event is presented by The Mann, AEG Live and Jamaican DaveProductions. It is slated as a production suitable to all ages.
This year, Reggae in the Park will be headlined by reggae artiste Matisyahu. Also booked to perform are reggae and dancehall artistes such as Mavado, Konshens, Morgan Heritage, Steel Pulse, The Expendables and Inner Circle, among others.
Early ticket specials
Konshens - Contributed
Konshens
Reggae in The Park 2014 will be held on August 3 at The Mann. Tickets bought in advance will cost patrons US$65 and US$49.50 for the balcony experience, while those who choose to view the show from the lawn will be charged US$40. Gold circle tickets will cost US$89.50.
Patrons who choose to purchase their tickets on the day of the show will be charged US$70 and US$54.50 for the balcony, US$45 for the lawn and US$94.50 for the gold circle. Children under 12 years old will be admitted to the event free, but only if accompanied by a parent. more

PRIME Minister Portia Simpson Miller: Stand up against criminals who damage schools....the prime minister called on Jamaicans to make a commitment to help in tackling crime... "Take A Stand — Beautify Our Land".

Thursday, May 08, 2014 Jamaica Observer   
PRIME Minister Portia Simpson Miller has called on Jamaicans to take a firm stand against criminals in the society who invade and cause damage to schools, especially at a time when students are sitting examinations.
Portia Simpson-Miller
In a speech delivered on her behalf by Labour Minister Derrick Kellier at yesterday's function to launch Workers Week and Labour Day 2014 at Jamaica House, the prime minister made reference to the incident at Tacky High School in St Mary, which was torched by arsonists Monday. She said the education minister and his team were doing everything to restore normality at the institution and that every effort would be made to bring the perpetrators to justice.
In reiterating Government's commitment to tackling crime at all levels, the prime minister called on Jamaicans to make a commitment to help in tackling crime.
Prime Minister Simpson Miller said it was for this reason she was pleased that Labour Day 2014 projects across the island will focus on repairs and renovation of police stations, as the Government continues to increase its efforts toward creating a safe and secure Jamaica.
Burnt School Books
Examined by Thwaites
"Labour Day 2014 will give us an opportunity not only to recognise the important work of our security forces, but also for communities to extend their hand in partnership with them... towards a better Jamaica," she said.
Labour Day 2014, a collaborative effort by the ministries of labour, local government, and youth and culture will be observed on Friday, May 23, under the theme "Take A Stand — Beautify Our Land". more

IN JAMAICA: Two Masked men allegedly held with 36 bank cards and more than $250,000 at an automated teller machine (ATM) in St Mary....The two have been identified as 31-one-year-old Shamari Davis of Waterloo Avenue in Kingston, and Levar Henry of Ocho Rios in St Ann

BY TANESHA MUNDLE Observer staff reporter mundlet@jamaicaobserver.com  Thursday, May 08, 2014    
TWO masked men, who were alleged caught with 36 bank cards and more than $250,000 at an automated teller machine (ATM) in St Mary, were both offered bail when they appeared in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court last Friday.
Bank Cards
The two have been identified as 31-one-year-old Shamari Davis of Waterloo Avenue in Kingston, and Levar Henry of Ocho Rios in St Ann, who were both offered bail in the sum of $200,000 and $350,000, respectively. The court was informed that Henry was on bail on an earlier drug-related charge when the alleged incident occurred.
The men were on Friday offered bail by Senior Magistrate Georgianna Fraser on charges of forgery, obtaining money by forged documents, conspiracy to defraud, and possession of identity information.
The court heard that on April 24, a team of police officers were in St Mary when they saw the two masked men inside the ATM. The officers reportedly became suspicious and accosted the men who were searched and found with 36 bank cards purported to be issued by National Commercial Bank and the Royal Bank of Canada. Cash amounting to $259,000 was also allegedly confiscated from the men.
The men were reportedly asked to account for the money and the bank cards but refused to comply and were arrested and charged.
Davis' attorney, Shanagaye Mitchell, told the court that her client was innocent and denied all the allegations.
"So he wasn't wearing any mask and he wasn't in the machine? He didn't have any money and any cards?" Fraser asked.
"My instruction is that my client denies all the allegations," Mitchell insisted.
However, Attorney Oswest Senior Smith, who is representing Henry, told the court that he needed to get further instructions from his client before addressing the allegations. more

IN JAMAICA: Hell in West Kingston..... Five shot dead between Tuesday night and yesterday...."Right now we are in fear; everyday there is another shooting [and] we don't know who will be next," said a female resident of Denham Town."These criminals [are] going after each other despite the presence of the police; we are worried,"

BY KIMMO MATTHEWS Observer staff reporter matthewsk@jamaicaobserver.com  Thursday, May 08, 2014    
FIVE people were shot and killed in the Kingston Western Police Division between Tuesday and yesterday evening as gunmen continued their rampage in the city's west end.
The first incident, police said, took place on Race Course Road about 9:20 Tuesday night when a man, identified as Gerrel Bravo, alias 'Neiko', of Upper Regent Street was shot dead by gunmen while driving his motor vehicle in the area.
This placard carries a strong message from
 residents of West Kingston who say they
 are tired of violence in their communities.
Residents reported hearing loud explosions and alerted the police, who searched the area and found Bravo's body slumped over the steering wheel of the vehicle.
Less than half an hour later, gunmen struck in Denham Town when a construction worker, identified as Vernon Vanzie, otherwise called 'Buba' and 'Anthony', was chased and shot dead while standing among a group of children on Metcalfe Street. While police were at that crime scene they were informed of another shooting, on Lincoln Crescent, where Kevin Black, a gas pump attendant, was shot several times as he stood outside a bar. He was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Two more murders were reported in the western section of the capital city yesterday evening. Details on yesterday's killings were not immediately available but the Jamaica Observer was told by a police source that one man was shot and killed on Pink Lane and the other on Hannah Street.
Police at crime scene
The killings, based on Observer calculations, has brought to nine the number of people killed in West Kingston in the last five weeks.
Residents of the area said yesterday that they were worried about the upsurge in gun violence.
"Right now we are in fear; everyday there is another shooting [and] we don't know who will be next," said a female resident of Denham Town."These criminals [are] going after each other despite the presence of the police; we are worried," said
another resident.more