Vybz Kartel gets five Youth View Awards (YVA) nominations.... Kartel was sentenced on April 3, 2014 for the August 16, 2011 murder of Clive 'Lizard' Williams. What Do You Think?

 Friday, January 09, 2015 

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Vybz Kartel, the controversial artiste who is currently serving life imprisonment for murder was tonight nominated for five Youth View Awards (YVA).

The categories for which the entertainer has been nominated are:

Kartel

1. Favourite Local Chart Topping Song

2. Favourite Local Artiste of the Year

3. Favourite Dancehall Artiste

4. Hottest Summer Song of the Year "Miami Vice"

5. Favourite Musical Collaboration

The YVA are promoted by the company An Elegant Affair and nominations are mainly based on Internet page views and responses via social media.

Kartel, whose real name is Adidja Palmer, was sentenced on April 3, 2014 for the August 16, 2011 murder of Clive 'Lizard' Williams. more

A dance for Bogle : Latiesha Allen, the ‘common-law wife’ of influential dancer Gerald ‘Bogle’ Levy, will mark the 10th anniversary of his death with an event dubbed, ‘Mr Wacky aka Bogle 10th Memorial Dance Off’.

BY KEVIN JACKSON Observer Writer  Friday, January 09, 2015    

Latiesha Allen, the ‘common-law wife’ of influential dancer Gerald ‘Bogle’ Levy, will mark the 10th anniversary of his death with an event dubbed, ‘Mr Wacky aka Bogle 10th Memorial Dance Off’.

Bogle

It takes place January 16 at the Event Centre in Decatur, Georgia. The show will feature a host of Bogle’s colleagues including Dancehall Queen Carlene, dancers Boysie, Craigy Dread, Hope Hype, Dansa and the Wacky Family, as well as sound system Sound Decision and selectors Jiggy Hunks (formerly of Metro Media) and Bugsy Bam Bam. Bogle, 40, was shot and killed January 20, 2005 in Kingston, shortly after leaving the popular Weddy Weddy dance.

No one has been prosecuted for his murder. “Bogle memorial is an event I keep every year in Jamaica or here in the United States. I do this in honour of a dancehall icon gone too soon,” said Allen in an interview with Spl a s h. Allen, who lives in New York, believes Bogle has not been given the respect he deserves for promoting dancehall culture.

Latiesha Allen

“He is the first male dancer from Jamaica to open the gates overseas for other dancehall dancers to be recognised,” she said. “He is internationally known and loved for his dance moves. He had Japanese, Americans, Europeans, Caribbean nationals an’ people from all over the world coming to Jamaica jus’ to see him perform.

He represented for our country.” Allen is calling for national recognition for the gangly Bogle whom she credits for “opening the eyes of millions of visitors to our island". more 

REPORT: Christie Illegally Publicized Senator's Records To Intimidate....Before Bridgegate, Chris Christie Used Port Authority As Political Weapon

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey was under fire. It was 2012 and the agency had just hiked tolls on area bridges and tunnels. Inside a hearing room on Capitol Hill, the Port Authority's deputy chief, Bill Baroni, was absorbing withering criticism from Sen. Frank Lautenberg, the late New Jersey Democrat.

Christie

Lautenberg carried a reputation as the political nemesis of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican who had appointed Baroni to his perch. Baroni swiftly attacked the senator: How could Lautenberg justify his opposition to raising tolls when he had himself enjoyed free passage across area bridges and tunnels?

"Respectfully, Senator, you only started paying tolls recently," Baroni said, according to a transcript of the exchange. "In fact, I have a copy of your free E-ZPass," he continued, holding up a physical copy of the toll pass Lautenberg had received as a benefit from his tenure as a Port Authority commissioner. "You took 284 trips for free in the last 2 years you had a pass."

Within days, Christie himself disclosed further detailed information about Lautenberg’s private travel records. At a press conference, he alleged that the senator didn't "pay for parking at Port Authority facilities" and said Lautenberg went "through the tunnel to New York three or four times a week in 2005 and 2006." more

SUSPECTS CORNERED TAKE HOSTAGE 2nd CRISIS IN PARIS : Attackers Say They Want To 'Die As Martyrs'... Residents Told To Remain At Home… Schools Under Lockdown... Paris Showdown Apparently Related To Charlie Hebdo Attack... LIVE VIDEO...

DAMMARTIN-EN-GOELE, France (AP) — French security forces struggled with two rapidly developing hostage-taking situations Friday, one northeast of Paris where two terror suspects were holed up with a hostage in a printing plant and the other an attack on a kosher market in Paris.

The two brothers suspected in a deadly terror attack Wednesday were cornered by police Friday inside a printing house in the small industrial town of Dammartin-en-Goele. One lawmaker said they told negotiators they "want to die as martyrs."

Hours later, a gunman seized an unknown number of hostages at a kosher market in eastern Paris, France's anti-terrorism prosecutor said. A police official, who was not authorized to speak to the media about the events, told The Associated Press there were several hostages and wounded in the kosher market. Police SWAT squads descended on the area near Paris' Porte de Vincennes neighborhood and France's top security official rushed to the scene. The attack came before sundown when the market would have been crowded with shoppers.

France has been high alert for other attacks since the country's worst terror attack in decades — the massacre Wednesday in Paris that left 12 people dead at the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo. But French officials could not confirm reports of a link between the hostage-taker at the kosher market Friday and the two suspects holed up at the printing house. more 

The Bill de Blasio Marijuana Rumors are Coming from Cops....After de Blasio became mayor, it is alleged that he and his wife, Chirlane McCray began smoking at Gracie Mansion;

For the bulk of his tenure, New York City mayor Bill de Blasio has been dogged by rumors that he and his wife consume marijuana with some frequency. Yesterday, at a press conference in Brooklyn, he told a Daily Caller reporter that “I haven’t smoked marijuana since I was at NYU” and denied he ever smoked weed at Gracie Mansion, the official residence of the mayor. We’ve asked about these rumors ourselves. It’s worth highlighting, however, who exactly is spreading them: The mayor’s security detail and their colleagues in the New York City Police Department.  Over the past year, we’ve heard from a broad array of sources—Democrats and Republicans; aides and operatives; journalists and flacks—about the mayor’s marijuana habit. For a rumor, the details have remained fairly consistent. The main four are:

NYC Mayor, de Blasio (L) and Police Commissioner Bratton

1. As Public Advocate, de Blasio and his wife, Chirlane McCray, liked to smoke in either their Park Slope rowhouse or a secluded section of Prospect Park;
2. De Blasio’s unexplained decision to forgo the Public Advocate’s assigned N.Y.P.D. security detail was based on his wife’s fear that they would be caught smoking;
3. After de Blasio became mayor, the couple began smoking at Gracie Mansion;
4. Both the Mayor and First Lady remain suspicious that the N.Y.P.D. security detail assigned to the Mayor’s Office have leaked information about their activities and whereabouts to the press. (From a recent Politico piece: “In 2013 de Blasio’s team was even convinced that members of his police detail were eavesdropping on his private conversations in his city-assigned car.”) more

EXCELLENT ECONOMIC NEWS: U.S. Adds 252,000 Jobs In December; Unemployment Rate Declines To 5.6%....When will President Obama get some credit from bring back the US economy from the abyss?

The U.S. economy added 252,000 jobs in December, as the unemployment rate fell to 5.6 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.

More from AP:

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. capped its best year for hiring in 15 years with a healthy job gain in December and the unemployment rate falling to a six-year low. The data adds to signs of strength that contrast with sputtering global growth. The Labor Department says employers added 252,000 jobs last month and 50,000 more in October and November combined than previously estimated. The unemployment rate dropped to 5.6 percent from 5.8 percent and is at the lowest level since June 2008.

Yet wage growth remains weak. Average hourly pay slipped 5 cents. And the unemployment rate fell partly because many of the unemployed gave up looking for work. The government doesn't count people as unemployed if they aren't searching for jobs. more

Power of Subconscious Mind Power Techniques SHOCKING Programming Explained thoughts

FIND THEM! THE HUNT CONTINUES... Brothers, Said Kouachi, 32, and Cherif Kouachi, 34 On The Run... May Have Robbed Gas Station In Northern France... Had Been On Police Radar For Years... One Had Previous Terrorism Charge... Youngest Suspect Turns Himself In... Several Arrests Overnight... Muslims Condemn Attack... Rising Anti-Islamic Sentiment In Europe... Most Controversial Cartoons... Crowds Gather Around The World In Support Of Victims... PHOTOS...

French police pressed a massive hunt for two brothers suspected in the murderous attack on offices of the French satirical publication Charlie Hedbo after a teenager surrendered early Thursday.

Said Kouachi, 32, and Cherif Kouachi, 34

Hamyd Mourad, 18, turned himself in to police after authorities identified the three men wanted in connection with the attack Wednesday that killed 10 journalists and two police officers. French police spokeswoman Agnès Thibault-Lecuivre said Mourad walked into a police station about 145 miles northeast of Paris and surrendered, according to The New York Times. “He introduced himself and was put in custody,” Thibault-Lecuivre told the newspaper.

Police were still looking for two brothers, Said Kouachi, 32, and Cherif Kouachi, 34. Both were said to be from the Paris region. Photos of the suspects were released, and police appealed to the public for help. One of the brothers has previously been tried on terrorism charges, Reuters reported.

The Associated Press said that Cherif Kouachi was tried in 2008 for helping funnel fighters to Iraq and sentenced to 18 months in prison. Kouachi told the court at the time that he was outraged by images that revealed the torture of Iraqi inmates by U.S. guards at the Abu Ghraib prison, according to the AP.

French media reported that police were seen searching a building in the city of Reims late on Tuesday. more 

ACTOR Eddie Murphy is taking another crack at reggae with the song Oh Jah Jah which is scheduled to be released January 27 by VPAL Classic...In 1993, Murphy collaborated with Grammy-winning deejay Shabba Ranks for the single, I Was A King

Thursday, January 08, 2015    

ACTOR Eddie Murphy is taking another crack at reggae with the song Oh Jah Jah which is scheduled to be released January 27 by VPAL Classic, the digital arm of VP Records.

Eddie Murphy

Donovan Williams, VPAL’s manager, told the Jamaica Observer that Murphy produced the song which is described as a “cultural track”. He said the actor’s “people reached out to us” to help market and promote the single, which is Murphy’s second reggae number in 18 months.

In the summer of 2013, he teamed with rapper Snoop Dogg on the song Red Light.

In 1993, Murphy collaborated with Grammy-winning deejay Shabba Ranks for the single, I Was A King. A video for that song was filmed in Portland.

Murphy, 53, was one of the hottest names in entertainment during the 1980s. He was the star attraction on Saturday Night Live, before branching out into hit movies like 48 Hrs, Trading Places and Beverly Hills Cop.

That success continued in the 1990s, thanks to movies like Coming to America and Boomerang. Other Murphy hit films include Shrek and The Nutty Professor.

In the mid-1980s, Murphy scored two hit singles, Party All The Time and How Could It Be which were produced by Rick James. more

Inner Circle, Chronixx reworks classic... Tenement Yard is one of Jacob Miller/Inner Circle's greatest hits. Recently, the band covered the song with hot neo-roots singer Chronixx on lead vocals.

Thursday, January 08, 2015   

JACOB Miller was an underground roots singer searching for that big radio hit in 1975. Months earlier, he had met Inner Circle, one of Jamaica's leading show bands.

Their association paid instant dividends with the song Tenement Yard, a humorous take on lack of privacy in Jamaican 'big yards'.

Chronixx (centre) with members of Inner Circle

Released in 1975, Tenement Yard is one of Miller/Inner Circle's greatest hits. Recently, the band covered the song with hot neo-roots singer Chronixx on lead vocals.

The song is released Tuesday on iTunes, one week before Inner Circle performs at the January 16-17 Rebel Salute at Richmond Estate in Priory, St Ann.

According to Inner Circle guitarist and co-founder Roger Lewis, linking with Chronixx to put new sheen on a classic is a "big, big deal".

"We wanted Jamaican people and reggae fans who didn't know Jacob Miller to get a touch of him and learn about him more, and what better way than with one of the hottest new young reggae stars," said Lewis. "We're bridging the gap, the past and the future."

A video for Tenement Yard was shot in the Little Haiti section of Miami last summer.

The Manchester-born Miller had a hit song as a teenager in 1968 with Love is a Message for Clement 'Coxson' Dodd. He had a presence on the Kingston show scene in the early 1970s and recorded several strong sides for dub visionary Augustus Pablo.

Tenement Yard was the breakthrough hit for Miller and Inner Circle which Lewis started in 1968 with his younger brother and bass player Ian; guitarist Stephen 'Cat' Coore, and keyboardist Michael (later 'Ibo') Cooper. more

IN JAMAICA (LATEST UPDATE) : THE two 16-year-old boys accused of killing 79-year-old retired nurse Hyacinth Hayden, allegedly planned robbery behind bars... Reportedly approached husband for work prior to murder..."They met in jail where they planned to get a gun which they say they wanted to use to rob rich people,"

BY HORACE HINES Observer West reporter  Thursday, January 08, 2015    

GREEN PARK, Trelawny — THE two 16-year-old boys accused of the New Year Eve's killing of 79-year-old retired nurse Hyacinth Hayden reportedly planned the robbery when they met in jail.

Slain nurse Hyancinth Hayden

Sources close to the investigations told the Jamaica Observer West that Hayden's husband, Ashley, was the minors' intended target.

In another revelation, multiple sources have said that the boys had planned on getting a gun to carry out further criminal activities.

"They met in jail where they planned to get a gun which they say they wanted to use to rob rich people," a source close to the investigation told the Observer West last evening.

Ashey Hayden (left), distraught husband
 of  slain retired nurse Hyancinth, is
comforted by
family friend Chris Jobson yesterday.
 (PHOTOS: LEON JACKSON)

On December 31, Ashley Hayden left the family home around 3:00 pm to purchase a phone card and other items for his wife at a community shop. On his return, about 15 minutes later, he discovered the blood-soaked body of his wife slumped on the kitchen step. Her upper body had multiple stab wounds.

Yesterday, the grief-stricken husband, who has had to seek medical attention since the incident, said one of the accused recently came to him seeking employment.

He surmised that the juvenile did not desire to work, but only wanted to familiarise himself with the property.

"Mi give him something to do, him come one day, him don't come back," the grieving widower told Observer West.

"The boy come and him scrape up round the place, but all this time ah observe him ah observe the place." more

MONTEGO BAY, St James: Cornwall College mourns passing of promising student, 17 y-o Cedric 'CJ' Murray.... Vice-Principal of Cornwall College, Lisa Allen, described Cedric as "a very good, active and valuable student, someone we would be happy to continue having".

BY ANTHONY LEWIS Observer West reporter  Thursday, January 08, 2015    

MONTEGO BAY, St James — A pall of gloom continues to hang stubbornly over Cornwall College's school community, following the sudden death of one of their promising students, days before the start of the Easter Term.

On December 28, Cedric 'CJ' Murray, a 17-year-old grade 11 student at the Montego

Former 2008 Youth Mayor of Lucea and outstanding student
of Cornwall College, 17 year-old Cedric Murray.

Bay-based institution, was taken to hospital for medical attention, after he complained of having a headache.

He later returned home but things took a turn for the worst that night when he wet his bed and became mostly unresponsive.

At about 2:00 am the following day he was again taken to hospital, where he was admitted following a battery of tests.

But, within 10 hours of being at the medical facility, he was pronounced dead.

On Monday, Vice-Principal of Cornwall College, Lisa Allen, described Cedric as "a very good, active and valuable student, someone we would be happy to continue having".

Allen said that the school community is taking Murray's untimely passing very hard and that counselling has had to be provided for students, some of whom cried openly at the sad news.

Teachers are also in disbelief, she told the Jamaica Observer West.

"We provided grief counselling for the students, particularly from his class [11 Science] and we are trying to cope with the sudden loss. That's the best way I can put it," expressed Allen, in trying to explain the tremendous grief the school community is undergoing. more

IN JAMAICA: CRIME Target In Sight, But Police Commissioner Dr Carl Williams cautious on murder-reduction goal, sets strategy to stop gun trade... In 2014, Jamaica recorded 1,005 murders - the lowest figure in a decade and 195 less than 2013

Published: Thursday | January 8, 2015 Livern Barrett, Gleaner Writer

WITH MURDERS declining by 16 per cent last year, Jamaica appears on track to slash its homicide rate to 25 per 100,000 of the population by the end of next year, as set out in the social partnership agreement between the Government, Opposition and civil society groups.

Dr Carl Williams (right), commissioner of police,
 and Deputy Commissioner of Police Clifford Blake
speak with members of the media during a press
 conference at the Office of the Police Commissioner
 on Old Hope Road in St Andrew
yesterday. - Rudolph Brown/Photographer

However, the country's police chief, opting for caution amid positive statistics, is shying away from making any predictions as to whether the 2016 target will be met.

Last year, Jamaica recorded 1,005 murders - the lowest figure in a decade and 195 less than 2013 - but needs to reduce murders by a cumulative 305 over the next two years (based on a 2.8-million population estimate) to attain the target set by the social partnership.

Police Commissioner Dr Carl Williams told The Gleaner yesterday that his focus was not on setting targets, as he was aware of the criticism that would follow if they were not achieved.

"I am not about to start setting targets now," Williams said, moments after he announced, during his first press conference, that the 1,005 murders recorded last year trimmed the country's homicide rate to 36 per 100,000.

That rate suggests the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) based its figures on a 2.8-million population. more

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IN JAMAICA: Cancer worry... More kids being diagnosed each year..."In one particular year we got a 30 per cent increase in brain tumours, and that is very concerning,"...Children's Hospital needs cancer ward, says SMO

BY INGRID BROWN Associate editor - special assignment browni@jamaicaobserver.com  Tuesday, January 06, 2015  

AS many as 25 children are diagnosed with cancer each year, reflecting an increase over previous years that is proving worrisome for health officials.

Dr Michelle Ann Richards-Dawson (right), senior medical
officer at Bustamante Hospital for Children, talks with young
cancer patient Lloyd DaCosta, his mother Annalease, and LIME
Foundation Executive Director Errol Miller after yesterday’s
Jamaica Observer Monday Exchange.
(PHOTO: NAPHTALI JUNIOR)

"In one particular year we got a 30 per cent increase in brain tumours, and that is very concerning," Senior Medical officer (SMO) at Bustamante Hospital for Children Dr Michelle Ann Richards-Dawson admitted yesterday.

The SMO, who was on a panel of guests at the weekly Jamaica Observer Monday Exchange at the newspaper's Beechwood Avenue head office, said they started tracking the statistics in 2006.

The panel was assembled to discuss the issue ahead of LIME Foundation's 6k Run-Walk scheduled for January 18 at which funds will be raised to help treat children with cancer.

Not only has there been an increase in the number of young patients being treated for the disease, but Dr Richards-Dawson said there are instances where they have lost track of children with cancer as they are unable to locate them for treatment.

"There is a number out there that we can't account for, so that is part of our mandate as well, to keep a tight rein on all our patients... So if they can't come into Bustamante, then we meet them at the nearest hospital to ensure they can still get their treatment," she explained.

Dr Richards-Dawson said there is no clear, scientific proof as to what is causing the increase in cancer cases, although there are many theories. more 

AMAAZIIIING! Cancer Cured in 3 Minutes - Awesome Presentation by Gregg Braden

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.

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