NYC Mayor De Blasio: Police Were Disrespectful To Turn Backs...."Those individuals who took certain actions the last two weeks, they were disrespectful to the families involved. That's the bottom line,"...SHOULD THE COPS BE FIRED?

AP  |  By JONATHAN LEMIRE Posted: 01/05/2015 8:20 pm EST 
NEW YORK (AP) — Mayor Bill de Blasio, his administration threatened to be overwhelmed by a rift with rank-and-file New York Police Department officers, on Monday condemned the thousands of cops who turned their backs to him during a pair of funerals for slain police officers.
BILL DE BLASIO
NYC Mayor de Blasio
In his first public remarks on the officers' protests, de Blasio said the cops' searing rebuke was hurtful to the families of the two officers killed in an ambush last month and was an offense to the city at large.
"Those individuals who took certain actions the last two weeks, they were disrespectful to the families involved. That's the bottom line," de Blasio said at a news conference held at police headquarters. "I can't understand why anyone would do such a thing in the context like that." De Blasio has faced public police protests four times since the brazen daytime ambush on Officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu: at the hospital where their bodies were taken, at a NYPD graduation ceremony and when he delivered eulogies at both officers' funerals.
He has stayed silent on the matter for two weeks, not making himself available for reporters' questions even as declining arrest numbers have raised concerns about a possible NYPD work slowdown. But on Monday he responded during a carefully choreographed news conference with Police Commissioner William Bratton that touted the city's record low crime levels but also was clearly intended as a public display of support from City Hall to the NYPD. Bratton continued to back de Blasio during his widening rift with the rank and file, saying he was "very disappointed" in the officers who did not honor his request to refrain from protesting at Liu's funeral on Sunday. more

Gully Bop drops new single featuring rapper Imari, "Drop Mi" in response to recent allegations from his former record label, Claims Records


Monday, January 05, 2015 | 1:46 PM  
KINGSTON, Jamaica — Dancehall’s man of the moment, Gully Bop, has released a new single in response to recent allegations from his former record label, Claims Records.
The single, titled Drop Mi, features rapper Imari and sums up Gully Bop’s version of the events leading up to him parting ways with the label.
“How dem fe drop mi an’ a nuh dem pick me up, Grudge dem grudge me tru me money get nuff,” Gully Bop rhymes on the track.
The Bermudan label, CBL Records produced the track with local music makers, Blak Spade.
Rapper, Imari adds an international flavour, supporting Gully Bop’s arguments rapping that his sudden rise to fame has not been experienced by many and can inevitably lead to jealousy.
Claims Records reportedly dropped the deejay citing that he has been “disrespectful and hype”.

FALMOUTH, Trelawny : Two 16 y-o boys held for murder of retired nurse, 79 y-o Hyacinth Hayden....Her mouth [was] open and [there was] blood all over her chest.

BY HORACE HINES Observer staff reporter hinesh@jamaicaobserver.com  Monday, January 05, 2015  
FALMOUTH, Trelawny — Two juveniles have been arrested for the gruesome murder of 79-year-old retired nurse Hyacinth Hayden, who was fatally stabbed at her Green Park home New Year's Eve.
HAYDEN… stabbed to death at family home
According to a highly placed police source, the two boys, who are both 16 years old, are expected to be charged by today. The source said the boys, who reside in Green Park, were taken into custody on Saturday.
One of the boys is said to live in close proximity to the Haydens.
On New Year's Eve, Ashley Hayden, husband of the slain retired nurse, said shortly after 3:00 pm he left the family home to purchase a phone card and other items for his wife at a community shop.
He said that on his return about 15 minutes later, he discovered the blood-drenched body of his wife slumped on the kitchen step. She was found with multiple stab wounds to the upper body, he said.
"... Her mouth [was] open and [there was] blood all over her chest. They (attackers) must have been around watching me. Is only someone who know that the dog was chained and could only reach a certain distance that could have done it," said Hayden. "When me come back the dog a raise hell," he told the Jamaica Observer.
There was speculation that the killer or killers, who might have been known to the retired nurse, lurked near her house until her husband left the premises. more

IN JAMAICA: Doctors blame lack of resources for poor health care.... Ministry to investigate supply problems at hospitals..."The elevator is always a problem, as it hardly ever works. The issue gets worse when you have to tell a patient 'I'm sorry, I can't do your surgery again because the elevator isn't working'," the surgeon said.

BY KIMBERLEY HIBBERT Observer staff reporter hibbertk@jamaicaobserver.com  Monday, January 05, 2015    
MEDICAL doctors yesterday blamed the lack of resources for the poor health care received by citizens at the nation's public hospitals.
The state-owned Kingston Public Hospital (KPH).
The doctors, who all requested anonymity, were responding to yesterday Sunday Observer story which exposed the conditions under which doctors have to work at the Kingston Public Hospital (KPH) and Spanish Town Hospital as well as the poor treatment received by patients, mostly poor Jamaicans.
One surgeon at the KPH told the Jamaica Observer on a number of occasions surgeries have had to be cancelled or postponed because of a shortage of equipment and the malfunctioning of others.
"The elevator is always a problem, as it hardly ever works. The issue gets worse when you have to tell a patient 'I'm sorry, I can't do your surgery again because the elevator isn't working'," the surgeon said.
In June last year elective surgeries were cancelled at the KPH because of repairs being carried out on one of the main elevators at the hospital, according to the surgeon. He said that, to date, the elevator does not function properly.
"A man is required to be posted in the elevator at all times to get you to the floor the surgery is being done. That's not a functioning elevator if someone has to be posted in it to allow it to go up and come down," the surgeon said.
He said that only emergency surgeries can be done because of the risks patients face when the elevator doesn't work.more

Eliza Delacruz Found: Body Of a 3-week-old Infant Abducted After Parents' Shooting Discovered In Dumpster

AP Posted: 01/05/2015 3:31 am EST 
LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) — The body of an infant found Sunday in the San Diego area is that of a 3-week-old baby who was abducted from a Long Beach home after a shooting a day earlier, police said.
Eliza Delacruz
The identification of Eliza Delacruz came after detectives from Long Beach traveled to San Diego County to help authorities investigate the discovery of remains found in a dumpster behind an Imperial Beach strip mall. Police said the San Diego County Coroner's office identified the child, who had disappeared Saturday night from a Long Beach home. There was no immediate word on the cause of death.
Officials say police went to the home after receiving a call about the shooting and found two brothers and the baby's mother with gunshot wounds. One of the brothers is the father of the child. Police are now seeking an adult male in the shooting but have not said if the man is related to the baby.
Long Beach police spokeswoman Marlene Arrona says his motive is unknown but detectives do not believe the shooting was a random act. Two victims remained hospitalized in critical but stable condition. The other was treated and released. more

IN JAMAICA: Minimum wage consultations start this month...According to head of the Hugh Lawson Shearer Trade Union Education Institute, Danny Roberts

Monday, January 05, 2015    
THE National Minimum Wage Advisory Commission will this month start preliminary discussions on increasing the national minimum wage, as well as minimum rates for private security personnel.
According to head of the Hugh Lawson Shearer Trade Union Education Institute, Danny Roberts — a member of the commission -- the three commissioners had hoped to have a preliminary meeting in December but were unable to do so.
Danny Roberts, Trade Union Leader
"We intend to address the issue this year and we expect to have our first preliminary meeting early this month," Roberts told the Jamaica Observer. The other members of the commission are Silvera Castro and Bernita Locke.
Roberts said that he has an issue with the coverage that the Minimum Wage Order provides for persons who earn low wages and he wants the Government to address it by amending Section 2. He said that the provision precludes the benefit of a national minimum wage to be paid to individuals employed by Government on special employment projects or individuals employed in certain basic schools or day care centres.
"This discriminatory provision should be removed so that all categories of workers can enjoy the benefits of the national minimum wage," Roberts said.
He argued that these categories of workers fall within the definition of the most vulnerable groups in the society, and are most affected by the downturn in the economy and the conditionalities imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Agreement.
The IMF, he said, has recognised the adverse impact that the programme would have on the vulnerable social groups.more

IN JAMAICA: Woman chopped viciously, allegedly by neighbour after she is assumed to be a lesbian.... Victim says her sexuality should not be an issue....but she is questioning whether it is a situation where her case is being stalled, because when she turned up for the initial December 12 court date, she found out that there was no case file.

BY ANIKA RICHARDS Sunday Observer staff reporter richardsai@jamaicaobserver.com  Sunday, January 04, 2015    
A young woman was allegedly chopped by her neighbour just over a month ago, and has, since then, been spending most of her time away from her apartment with friends and relatives, because she no longer feels safe at home.
The victim’s wound on the mend
She told the Jamaica Observer in a recent interview that it is apparent something is wrong, she just does not know what.
"Apparently she has an issue with me, I don't know what it is really. She is making all kinds of assumptions," the victim disclosed. "Because I live in a two-bedroom house with another female, she is automatically assuming that I am a lesbian."
Questioned as to whether there was any truth to the assumptions, she responded: "But me being a lesbian or not being a lesbian has nothing to do with me being chopped and that's what this is about. My sexuality has nothing to do with it, whether or not I am straight or gay, people can assume; I have nothing to say, no comment on that."
The victim told the Sunday Observer that the matter should now be before the courts, but she is questioning whether it is a situation where her case is being stalled, because when she turned up for the initial December 12 court date, she found out that there was no case file.
The situation came to a head on November 21, according to the victim, when she was involved in a tussle with her neighbour, after which she received chop wounds.
The victim displays the wound she
 received to her left side.
She related that everything started on November 16. She said she got into a scuffle with her housemate, who is also her business partner, after which she turned the music in her apartment on. The victim told the Sunday Observer that she heard banging on her door and when she opened it, her neighbour from the apartment in front of hers was standing there.
She said her neighbour complained that her music was too loud, so she turned it off. She said about 15 minutes later, the security guard for the compound knocked on her door and told her that a complaint was made about her music. She said that she then left the apartment and went for a walk, only to return sometime later and was told that the police had also visited her apartment. more

St. Ann, JAMAICA: Facebook users assist needy St Ann family..AMELDA Schlifer and her family, which includes her three sons and a nephew, will soon have a new home... Five share a small, one room zinc dwelling

BY RENAE DIXON Sunday Observer staff reporter dixonr@jamaicaobserver.com  Sunday, January 04, 2015  
AMELDA Schlifer and her family, which includes her three sons and a nephew, will soon have a new home.
The house which the family of five
 call home. (PHOTOS: RENAE DIXON)
The family has Facebook users to thank after they responded to a post made on the social network that the family, which lives in a deplorable condition, needed help.
The family has called a one room dilapidated zinc structure in Orange Hill, Brown's Town, St Ann their home for many years, but was unable to do anything to change their situation because of poverty.
"Mi can't stop thank dem and it no finish yet," a happy Amelda Schlifer, 35, told the Jamaica Observer recently as four men worked busily on a new building that she expects to call home later this month, pending further assistance.
"Every day when they come dem say how mi a laugh so," she said, adding that she was happy for the assistance as she has been struggling for many years.
"When rain fall, in here wet up and mi have to put basin to ketch water," Schlifer said in reference to the challenges she faced in the room which was built by her father for her children and herself.
The mother of five added: "It rough, rough. Sometimes mi go out and people give mi little work."
These men volunteer their time to
ensure that the family gets a new home
According to her, she was praying and asking God for help but she never expected a house.
Schlifer, who often depends on the assistance of people to support her children, said that she received help from their fathers, but rarely.
Jamaica Labour Party councillor/caretaker for the Brown's Town division, Kim Brown Lawrence, who made the post on Facebook, said that there was nothing political about the assistance being given to the family.
She said that the concrete house being constructed was solely through donations from compassionate Facebook users.
Brown Lawrence, who is expected to represent the JLP in the local government elections due in March, said that she was doing house-to-house visits when she found out that the family needed help.
A happy Amelda Schlifer says she
 appreciates the help.
"I was doing house-to-house when I met Amelda Schlifer, otherwise known as Spider," Brown Lawrence said.
"When I came here I saw her son coming from under the cellar so I said, 'what is he doing there' and he said that's where he sleeps during the night," Brown Lawrence commented, a clear indication that help was needed urgently.
She then went to view the house where the children slept on the floor while their mother slept on a sponge.
"It was full of water; she had a milk can on the wood fire inside her home with one egg boiling," Brown Lawrence recalled, describing the situation as a picture of suffering.more

IN JAMAICA: Paralysed mother, Althea McFarlane seeks help with wheelchair, child's education....Family living without electricity as challenges mount ...."Mi would really like to get a wheelchair because most times I would sit on the veranda," McFarlane said.

Sunday, January 04, 2015 BY RENAE DIXON Sunday Observer staff reporter dixonr@jamaicaobserver.com      
ALTHEA McFarlane's biggest dream is to be able to attend her daughter's high school graduation.
Althea McFarlane tells her story lying in bed as she is
 paralysed from the waist down
Since going to her daughter's school-leaving ceremony from basic school, McFarlane has not been able to attend any major functions in which her daughter participates. The mother of two has been paralysed from the waist down for the last six years and lays at home unable to do anything.
"The only graduation mi go a basic school. Mi no go a primary and mi no know if mi can go to high school," she told the Jamaica Observer at her Middle  home, outside Brown's Town recently.
Her dream is that when her daughter leaves the York Castle High School in 2016 she will be able to attend the graduation. According to McFarlane, life has not been easy for her since she became paralysed as she is dependent on her elderly parents to care for her. To make matters even more complicated, she said that doctors have not been able to identify the cause of her illness.
Now, she lies in bed, not able to be active in her children's lives and especially in the life of her 15-year-old daughter who also helps to take care of her.
"They can't find no complaint," she said of medical personnel after she spent several months in hospital doing various tests, without finding out the reason for her ailment.
"Mi just feel some pain in mi back and mi could barely raise up. Then mi can't raise up at all," she recalled how it all started. Her family rushed her to the doctor, but things have only got worse. As a result of lying in one place for years, she sometimes gets bed sores.
"Mi would really like to get a wheelchair because most times I would sit on the veranda," McFarlane said. more

Controversial dancehall artiste Alkaline is giving a thumbs up despite a shooting in a nightclub in which he was performing

Saturday, January 03, 2015 
DESPITE a shooting in a nightclub in which he was performing, controversial dancehall artiste Alkaline is giving his first North American gig thumbs up.
According to the Hartford Courant, a man was placed in critical condition after a shooting inside the West Indian Social Club in Hartford, Connecticut, recently.
Alkaline
"Alkaline had no involvement with the shooting which took place in Hartford. The deejay gave his usual performance. Upon exiting the club, shots were fired. It is our understanding that the persons involved had some form of altercation prior to show night and took action," said Kereena Beckford, the deejay's manager.
The man, whose name was withheld, was shot in the chest. According to police, he is in critical but stable condition at Saint Francis Hospital. The city's Major Crimes Division is investigating.
This is not the first time police had to be called to the venue.
Four people were stabbed and a man fired shots in the club in 2012, while a man was shot and killed on the dance floor the year before.
Alkaline, whose given name is Earlan Bartley, is known for both his controversial lyrics and looks. His bleached skin and tattooed eyeballs make him the topic of many conversations.
The December 7 jaunt, which recently ended, saw the artiste performing at Club Amazura in New York and the Loft Ballroom in Washington, DC. more

TRELAWNY, JAMAICA: Brutal end, 79-year-old retired nurse, Hyacinth Hayden, who was butchered at her home in this usually peaceful community on New Year's Eve. Killed hours before 2014 closed...."There was blood, from living room come right down. Every drawer pull out, everything turn upside down," the widower said.

BY HORACE HINES Observer staff reporter hinesh@jamaicaobserver.com  Friday, January 02, 2015 
GREEN PARK, Trelawny — The Trelawny police were yesterday trying to locate the whereabouts of a suspect in connection with the murder of retired nurse Hyacinth Hayden, who was butchered at her home in this usually peaceful community on New Year's Eve.
Ashley Hayden, husband of slain retired nurse, Hyacinth Hayden.
(PHOTO: MARK CUMMINGS). An undated photo of slain
retired nurse Hyacinth Hayden
The police said they wanted to question a "particular individual" in connection with the grisly murder of the 79-year-old Hayden, who was said to be well-loved in her Green Park, Trelawny, community.
According to a distraught Ashley Hayden, husband of the slain retired nurse, shortly after 3:00 pm he left the family home to purchase a phone card and other items for his wife at a community shop.
He said that on his return, about 15 minutes later, he discovered the blood-drenched body of his wife slumped on the kitchen step. She was found with multiple stab wounds to the upper body, he said.
"... Her mouth [was] open and [there was] blood all over her chest. They (attackers) must have been around watching me. Is only someone who know that the dog was chained and could only reach a certain distance that could have done it," said Hayden. "When me come back the dog a raise hell!"
There was speculation that the killer or killers, who might have been known to the retired nurse, lurked near her house until her husband left the premises to commit the crime.
Hayden said that when he went inside the ransacked house, blood was spattered all over the floor, which suggested that the killers may have been searching for money and other valuables.
"There was blood, from living room come right down. Every drawer pull out, everything turn upside down," the widower said.more

50 y-o Gully Bop and his 25 y-o girlfriend/manager, Shauna Chin.....Chin found Gully Bop. After a brief conversation, she realised he was not a 'madman' as he was often labelled, but suffering from depression....But Chin insists this is not the end of his career. He has several projects — including a collaboration with Mr Vegas — in the works

BY SIMONE MORGAN Observer reporter morgans@jamaicaobserver.com  Friday, January 02, 2015 
ONE month ago, the life of a down-and-out deejay called Gully Bop was transformed after a video of him 'freestyling' went viral.
Shauna Chin and deejay Gully Bop
The 50-year-old artiste, whose given name is Robert Lee Malcom, became an Internet sensation. His newfound fame made him a headliner at Sting where he turned in an impressive performance.
Among Gully Bop's most loyal supporters is his 25-year-old girlfriend/manager Shauna Chin.
"The age doesn't matter. I have grown to love him and I was the one who proposed to him. He knows how to tick me off, then know, exactly what to do to make me laugh," she told Splash. "This has always been the type of love I wanted."
Chin said she first heard about the deejay from her mother, Donna McLean, a lover of vintage dancehall.
"I saw the video of him freestylng and I instantly posted it in on Groupie.net in September. I saw his potential and I just knew I had to find him, so I took a cab to Grants Pen to locate him," she recalled.
After some difficulty, Chin found Gully Bop. After a brief conversation, she realised he was not a 'madman' as he was often labelled, but suffering from depression. Having worked with other entertainers including Vybz Kartel and Tommy Lee, Chin said she used her 'links' to get him media interviews.
Shauna Chin
She is not affected by criticisms of the unlikely relationship. "I have been called a money-grabber and that I was just trying to get fame, but that's not the case. I love him. We have both been through a lot so we blend well...it's pure love," she stated.
Chin was born in Portland. After completing her studies at Port Antonio High School, she migrated to Philadelphia where she has lived for almost a decade.
It has not been all roses for Gully Bop. This week, Claims Records, the label which produced most of his songs, severed ties with the entertainer, saying he has become disrespectful. But Chin insists this is not the end of his career. He has several projects — including a collaboration with Mr Vegas — in the works.

KINGSTON, JAMAICA: Downtown fire leaves 9 homeless....."I am not sure what started the fire but all I know, I lost everything in the blaze," said Novelette Golding

Friday, January 02, 2015    
NINE people were left homeless yesterday when fire gutted an eight-bedroom board house on North Street in downtown Kingston.
Moya Jackson points to the remains of her home
 (PHOTOS: DONISHA WILLIAMS)
Neighbours said they saw smoke coming from the building about 3:30 am and called the fire brigade.
"No one was injured in the blaze as the six adults and three children were not at home during the fire," one of the tenants told the Jamaica Observer.
Novelette Golding, another tenant, said she was on her way from church when she got the call that the house was on fire. "I am not sure what started the fire but all I know, I lost everything in the blaze," said Golding, as she sat on a stool with her hands cupping her face.
Novelette Golding is a picture of
grief as she ponders her next move
 after yesterday’s fire
Moya Jackson, a mother of one, said she also lost everything in the fire.
"I got a call about minutes to 4:00 to say that fire was at my house; I could not even save a thing," said Jackson.
Firefighters from the York Park Fire Station said that four units were used to put out the blaze.
The fire brigade said loss was estimated at $2 million.
Reference Jamaica Observer-- Donisha Williams

Kingston craft vendors hoping for better business in 2015...."You no see say craft is dead. Nothing not happening for us vendors and for the year 2015 we are hoping Government will do more to attract more tourists to downtown (Kingston)," added the craft vendor.

BY KIMMO MATTHEWS Observer staff reporter matthewsk@jamaicaobserver.com  Friday, January 02, 2015    
VENDORS who operate in the Kingston Craft Market are hoping that 2015 will bring about a change in fortune for their business, which they say is slowly dying.
The vendors told the Jamaica Observer that in addition to a decline in customers visiting the facility, located on Ocean Boulevard, they did not feel Government was doing enough to attract tourists to the craft market, which she said has been promoting Brand Jamaica.
"The year 2014 has ended and we are hoping that the New Year will bring about a change for us vendors," said Winston Graham, a 54-year-old Rastarafian who had a worried look on his face while speaking with the Observer.
"You no see say craft is dead. Nothing not happening for us vendors and for the year 2015 we are hoping Government will do more to attract more tourists to downtown (Kingston)," added the craft vendor.
"Things can't continue like this as 2014 was a very slow period for craft vendors," said 85-year-old vendor Ruby Toques, who has been operating at the craft market for more than 30 years.
"We are calling on the Government to speed up [development] plans to get the Kingston Harbour up and running so we can see more tourists coming to downtown [Kingston}," said Toques. more

Mario Cuomo, Former New York Governor, Dies At 82 of Heart Failure.....Cuomo died just six hours after his son Andrew was formally sworn in to a second term as governor of the Empire State (NY)

The Huffington Post  |  By Mollie Reilly & Paige Lavender Email Posted: 01/01/2015 8:14 pm EST
Former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo has died at the age of 82, NY1 and the New York Daily News report.
Mario Cuomo
Mario Cuomo
Cuomo died just six hours after his son Andrew was formally sworn in to a second term as governor of the Empire State. Cuomo's swearing-in was initially set to take place in Albany, but the governor relocated the ceremony at the last minute so he could spend New Year's Eve with his father, according to Newsday.
"He couldn't be here physically today ... but my father is in this room," Andrew Cuomo said in his inaugural address Thursday, according to the New York Daily News."He's in the heart and mind of every person who is here. His inspiration and his legacy and his spirit is what has brought this day to this point," Cuomo added.
When Mario Cuomo was hospitalizedin late 2014 with a heart condition, a spokesman said he was "in good spirits," and CNN's Chris Cuomo -- the former governor's other son -- tweeted that his father was "doing well enough." (In addition to Andrew and Chris, Mario Cuomo had three daughters -- Maria, Margaret and Madeline.) First elected to the post in 1982, Cuomo served three terms as governor of the Empire State, making him the longest-serving Democratic governor in state history. more

SISTER Nancy's Bam Bam, recorded 30 years ago, is one of two songs written by Jamaicans on the soundtrack for 2014's most controversial movie, The Interview....Pon de Floor, written by Vybz Kartel and performed by Electronic Dance Music group Major Laser, is also part of the soundtrack

SISTER Nancy's Bam Bam, recorded 30 years ago, is one of two songs written by Jamaicans on the soundtrack for 2014's most controversial movie, The Interview.
Sister Interview
Pon de Floor, written by Vybz Kartel and performed by Electronic Dance Music group Major Laser, is also part of the soundtrack which includes songs by Eminem, Usher and Isaac Hayes.
Sister Nancy (given name Ophlin Russell-Myers) had a resurgent year with Bam Bam which she first recorded for producer Winston Riley in the mid-1980s. Bam Bam was also featured in a Reebok television commercial.
The Interview had a limited release by Sony on Christmas Day in the United States. The comedy, starring James Franco and Seth Rogen, surrounds a plot to assassinate North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.
The movie angered North Korea, which threatened military strikes against the United States if it was released. Sony initially postponed the release but opened on Christmas Day in only 331 cinemas.
The Interview has so far made a modest US$2.8 million at the box office. Digitally, it has fared better, earning US$15 million through rent or purchase online.
Sister Nancy, younger sister of deejay Brigadier Jerry, started her recording career in 1980. Now a bank accountant in New Jersey, she performs regularly in North America and Europe.

TRELAWNY, Jamaica: Retired Trelawny nurse stabbed to death at home..... The deceased has been identified as 79-year-old Hyacinth Hayden of Green Park.

Wednesday, December 31, 2014 | 10:27 PM   
TRELAWNY, Jamaica -- Detectives assigned to the Trelawny Police Division are now working feverishly to find a lead into the gruesome murder of a retired nurse at her home in the parish Wednesday afternoon.
The deceased has been identified as 79-year-old Hyacinth Hayden of Green Park.
Reports are that shortly after 3:00pm, Hayden's husband returned home shortly after he left to purchase items at a nearby shop in the community to find the blood-drenched body of his wife on the kitchen step.
Upon the arrival of the police who were summoned the body of Hayden, who was a deacon at the Granville Baptist Church, was found with what appeared to be stab wounds.

New Year Message from the Prime Minister of JAMAICA, Portia Simpson-Miller

Thursday, January 01, 2015 | 12:23 AM 
Following is the New Year message 2015 from the Prime Minister of Jamaica Portia Simpson Miller:
My fellow Jamaicans at home and around the world, I greet you on this the first day of a brand new year, 2015
Prime Minister of Jamaica
Portia Simpson Miller
Like the golden rays of warm, Jamaican sunshine bursting over our majestic Blue Mountains, a New Year has dawned. The New Year brings with it,new hope and possibilities for our individual lives, our families and our nation.
Each New Year provides a time for reflection. In this time, many of us reflect on the joys and disappointments, on the mistakes and achievements of the past year. It is also a time in which we step into a new season, and take hold of new opportunities to make greater strides for our families, our beloved country and ourselves.
Come let us reflect on this together.
We can all accept that 2014 was a challenging year for many Jamaicans.
2014 was a tough economic year for our country.
I want to take this opportunity to thank you,the Jamaican people, for the sacrifices you made during these difficult times. We have laid the foundation, and we are turning the corner towards a sustained path of economic growth and development. more

Wow...mother nature is mad....massive flood swallows town....VERY SCARY


DID YOU KNOW POWER ACTIVIST AND A FOUNDER OF THE BLACK POWER MOVEMENT STOKELY CARMICHAEL AKA KWAME TURE IS CARIBBEAN?


  • Stokely Carmichael, also known as Kwame Ture (June 29, 1941 – November 15, 1998), was a Trinidadian activist active in the 1960s Civil Rights Movement, and later, the global Pan-African movement. Growing up in the United States from the age of eleven, he graduated from Howard University and rose to prominence in the civil rights and Black Power movement
  • Ture was a leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), later as the "Honorary Prime Minister" of the Black Panther Party, and finally as a leader of the All-African Peoples Revolutionary Party.
  • At 19 years of age, Carmichael became the youngest detainee of the Civil Rights movement in the summer of 1961.He spent 53 days at Parchman Farm in "a six-by-nine cell.
  • In 1964, Carmichael became a full-time field organizer for SNCC in Mississippi.
  •  Carmichael became chairman of SNCC in 1966, taking over from John Lewis. A few weeks after Carmichael took office, James Meredith was shot and wounded by a shotgun during his solitary "March Against Fear". Carmichael joined Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Floyd McKissick, Cleveland Sellers and others to continue Meredith's march. He was arrested during the march and, upon his release, he gave his first "Black Power" speech
  • In May 1967, Carmichael stepped down as chairman of SNCC and was replaced by H. Rap Brown.
  •  After stepping down as SNCC chair, Carmichael wrote the book Black Power (1967)
  • After the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., FBI director J. Edgar Hoover instructed a team of agents to find evidence connecting Ture to the DC rioting over Martin Luther King's assassination.
  • Carmichael changed his name to Kwame Ture, to honor the African leaders Nkrumah and Touré, who had become his patrons.
  • For the final thirty years of his life, Kwame Ture was devoted to the All-African People's Revolutionary Party (A-APRP)
  • In 1998 Carmichael died of prostate cancer at the age of 57 in Conakry, Guinea. He had said that his cancer "was given to me by forces of American imperialism and others who conspired with them."He claimed that the FBI had infected him with cancer in an assassination
Information courtesy of Biography.com, Wikepedia and Caribbean American Heritage Month

First Ebola victim may have been infected by bats....The researchers explored an area in southeastern Guinea where 2-year-old Emile Ouamouno fell ill a year ago and died.

Wednesday, December 31, 2014 | 7:15 AM 
NEW YORK, United States (AP) — A team of researchers think they may have pinpointed how the Ebola epidemic in West Africa started with a small boy playing in a hollowed-out tree where infected bats lived.
Photo shows a tree repeatedly smoked by villagers to
catch bats in the Guinean village of Meliandou, some 400
 miles (600 kms) south-east of Conakry, Guinea, believed
 to be Ebola's ground zero.
The researchers explored an area in southeastern Guinea where 2-year-old Emile Ouamouno fell ill a year ago and died. Health officials believe he was the first case in the epidemic, which wasn't recognized until spring.
The Ebola virus wasn't found in the bats they tested so they weren't able to prove the source, the scientists reported in a study published Tuesday. But they believe the boy got Ebola from the furry, winged creatures that had lived in the hollow tree.
"As a scientist, I can say it's a possible scenario," said one of the study's authors, Fabian Leendertz of the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin.
An outside expert said the researchers' work was thought-provoking. "They didn't find smoking guns" but perhaps broadened the thinking about what sparked the epidemic, said Stephen Morse, a Columbia University infectious disease expert.
The Ebola epidemic is the worst in world history, blamed for killing nearly 8,000 people across West Africa this year, mostly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. more

WHAT'S MY PIN # AGAIN? OH I REMEMBER... LIGHTER! This man tried to use explosives to rob an ATM in Darwin by blowing it up. Watch how his plan backfired.

GULLY BOP, GET DROP! Claims Records says deejay behaving hype and disrespectful....Him a diss everybody whe start him ting. Him a diss the people from the community. Right now Grant's Pen nuh inna him

After a commanding performance at the recently concluded Magnum Sting stage show, Internet sensation Gully Bop will now have to find a new management team as he was recently dropped by Claims Records.
According to a representative from the record label, Gully Bop has become a bit too hype and disrespectful.
"Claims Records done wid Gully Bop. We done wid everything. Him a diss everybody whe start him ting. Him a diss the people from the community. Right now Grant's Pen nuh inna him. Him dis Boom Boom and Kibaki and a diss everybody," the representative said.
Photo: GULLY BOP, GET DROP.To make matters worse, the representative claims the artiste has refused to listen to their advice to voice for other producers, and provide radio disc jocks with dubs and jingles.
He said; "When we ask him to do some dubs and jingles fi the radio selectors, him say a nuh dem buss him so him nah do it. It's like we have to be forcing him to do things and that is giving Claims Records a bad name with these selectors. If a nuh money, him nah dweet."
more money
"We were trying to steer his career to keep him afloat but him nuh want hear dat. We asked him to voice for DJ Sunshine and not even dat him did waan fi do. Him say a YouTube buss him so him nuh need no selector," he said.
The decision to drop Gully Bop was made last night after his refusal to do a show for which he was booked, if he did not get 'more food'.
"We done agree wid a price with the promoter and Gully Bop say him nah dweet if him nuh get more money. Gully Bop caan even remember the lyrics fi him songs. Him know the hook but a bere freestyle him do on stage. No matter how we try wid him, him just a get hype. We tell him fi stop diss Ninja Man and other artistes because we respect Ninja Man and him nah hear. It's not a good look," the representative said.
A collaboration with the Gully Gad Mavado and Gully Bop was also in the pipeline, but Claims Records has also axed that.
"That collab was gonna be dropped in the new year, but dat nah badda happen now. We have disabled his Instagram and Facebook pages so whoever is dealing with him now, can start afresh. We are disassociating ourselves from anything that has to do with Gully Bop," he said.
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