MASSIVE FIRES In CANADA : Massive New evacuations around fire-struck Fort McMurray in energy heartland

ANZAC, ALBERTA | BY ROD NICKEL

A massive wildfire near Fort McMurray in Alberta, Canada, that has grown to five times its initial size has spread south, forcing more evacuations on Thursday after 88,000 people fled the city in the nation's energy heartland.

The weather forecast has called for cooler temperatures and possible rain, offering hope that controlling the blaze could become easier.

Late Wednesday, flames fanned south from Fort McMurray, the main city in Canada's oil sands region. Officials issued mandatory evacuation orders for the Anzac, Gregoire Lake Estates and Fort McMurray First Nation communities, located about 50 km (31 miles) south of the battered city. Officials on the scene were forced to evacuate a make-shift emergency operations center for the second time in less than a day.

Authorities said there had been no known casualties from the blaze itself, but fatalities were reported in at least one vehicle crash along the evacuation route.

Thousands bunked down for the night on Wednesday in arenas, hockey rinks and oil work camps that were often short of fuel and food. Fire also threatened the airport, and web cam images showed black smoke engulfing the area late Wednesday evening. Officials confirmed that a hotel north of the main terminal had caught fire, but as the sun rose on Thursday new images of the airport showed no obvious damage.

Major oil sands facilities were not in the path of the flames, but companies' efforts to help employees and evacuees and protect pipelines affected production and helped boost the price of crude.

Austrian consultancy JBC Energy estimated that some 500,000 barrels per day of capacity was offline. [O/R]..more

Fraud hits the Jamaica Stock Exchange, Bank of Jamaica

Wednesday, May 04, 2016   

Both the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) and the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) have given notice of fraudulent emails in circulation which purport to give advice on funds being held which are available for collection.

The Jamaica Stock Exchange in
downtown Kingston 

In a notice posted on its website, the JSE notes, “It has come to the notice of the Jamaica Stock Exchange’s attention that members of the public have been receiving emails circulated as originating from JSE and from addresses associated with the Stock Exchange, purporting to inform persons about ‘Accumulated Dividends on your Portfolio’.”

The JSE advises members in the financial sector and the general public that the emails do not originate from the Stock Exchange “which has not disseminated any instructional messages to the public”.

“Importantly,” the JSE notes, “people in receipt of such messages should not proceed to open or execute any program contained therein, as we are advised that these emails have attachments which may contain malicious software.” more

AMAZING DIGITS (Polydactylism condition) : Baby Born With 31 Fingers And Toes In China..... Hong Hong’s family is seeking help for the boy’s surgery....The Guinness World Records is 34 Digits....WOW!

05/05/2016 03:31 am ET

A family living in poverty in China is desperately seeking outside help in the hopes they can get surgery for their infant son.

Hong Hong

Hong Hong, who is almost 4 months old, has polydactylism, or the congenital condition of having extra fingers or toes. It’s not an uncommon condition, affecting about one in every 1,000 live births; typically, however, only one hand or foot is affected, with one or perhaps two extra digits per limb.

But baby Hong Hong’s condition is significantly more severe. The boy, who was born in Hunan province in January, has 15 fingers and 16 toes. He also has two palms on each hand and no thumbs. Hong Hong’s mom has polydactylism herself with 12 fingers and 12 toes. She and her husband say they’re seeking medical advice as to how best to treat their son.

Hong Hong

So far, doctors have warned that the surgery required to both remove the extra digits and to give the child reconstructed thumbs would be a complicated and expensive procedure. The surgery could reportedly cost as much as $30,000.

To raise money for the operation, Hong Hong’s family had turned to crowdfunding platforms and has reportedly raised more than $6,000 to date. But, the child’s father, Zou Chenglin, told CNN that they decided to stop their efforts “because of the mixed comments they’ve received about raising money online.”

Hong Hong and mom

For now, doctors say Hong Hong is too young to undergo surgery. They’ve recommended that the child be operated on between 6-months and a year old, reports China’s Sina News. According to the Guinness World Records, the person born with the most fingers and toes is Akshat Saxena who was born in India in 2010. Akshat, who has since undergone surgery for the condition, was born with 34 total digits — 14 fingers and 20 toes.

The search for the best of the best Counting down to the 18th Annual Jamaica Observer Table Talk Food Awards, Thursday, May 26, 2016

The search for the best of the best Counting down to the 18th Annual Jamaica Observer Table Talk Food Awards, Thursday, May 26, 2016

Claudette’s curried goat

Lorna’s curry goat comes with rice
and peas, lettuce and tomato, fried
 plantains and macaroni

Thursday, May 05, 2016    
Food Awards judges Jodi Henriques and Chris Reckord hear Michael Erskine and Camille Shields loud and clear but invite them to visit Kingston and try not only the curried goat but the oxtail at Asia’s Cafe inside York Pharmacy not to mention Claudette Tenn’s curried goat, stewed pork and oxtail at M10. There’s Triple T too, at Annette Crescent — and let us not forget Lorna’s at 189 Mountain View Avenue —the search for the best of the best is on in earnest

Trump’s Deportation Plan Could Slice 2 percent Off U.S. GDP: Study Removing the roughly 6.8 million immigrants who are illegally employed would cause a slump of $381.5 billion to $623.2 billion in private sector output, the study found.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Donald Trump’s vow to round up and deport all of America’s undocumented immigrants if he is elected president could shrink the economy by around 2 percent, according to a study to be released on Thursday by conservative think tank the American Action Forum.

The research adds to concerns about the Republican White House nominee’s policy proposals, which range from tearing up international trade agreements to building a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico.

Donald Chump

About 6.8 million of the more than 11 million immigrants living in the United States illegally are employed, according to government statistics. Removing them would cause a slump of $381.5 billion to $623.2 billion in private sector output, the Washington-based non-profit said in its analysis.

The study added that removing those workers could leave potentially millions of jobs unfilled due to a lack of legal workers willing to do them. Industries with the highest share of undocumented workers include farming, construction, and hospitality, according to the research.

“The things Donald Trump has said are utterly unworkable,” said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, the forum’s president, and the top economic adviser to Senator John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign.   

Trump, who effectively sealed the Republican nomination this week, has called for thedeportation of anyone living in the United States illegally, arguing foreign workers hold down salaries and contribute to unemployment.

That position has drawn strong opposition from business leaders like the conservative billionaire Koch brothers as well as from human rights advocates. Trump has further angered opponents by saying Mexico was sending rapists and drug dealers to the United States, and by calling for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the country to shore up national security. more

T20 shocker! World champs Windies crash to third in ICC rankings

Thursday, May 05, 2016    

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (CMC) — West Indies have slumped to third spot in the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Twenty20 rankings, just a month after emphatically winning the Twenty20 World Cup in India.

West Indies’s Captain Darren Sammy (centre) holds the trophy as he celbrates
with teammates after victory in the World T20 cricket tournament final match
 against England at The Eden Gardens Cricket Stadium in Kolkata on
April 3, 2016.INDRANIL MUKHERJEE

They have been bizarrely overtaken by New Zealand who bowed out to losing finalists England at the semi-final stage of the recent tournament.

The Black Caps are now 10 points clear of West Indies, at the top of the standings on 132 points, after leaping from third place and overtaking both India and the Caribbean side.

Following their four-wicket victory over England in the T20 World Cup final at Eden Gardens on April 3, West Indies had vaulted into second spot, just one point behind India, who topped the rankings with 126 points. New Zealand were third on 120 points.

Since then, however, New Zealand have gained 12 points without playing a single game, while the second-placed India have gained three and West Indies, in contrast, have lost three points.

According to the ICC, the West Indies suffered from the fact the points from the 2012-13 season, which included those from their maiden T20 World Cup triumph in Sri Lanka, have now been dropped.

South Africa are three points behind West Indies in fourth, England lie fifth, while Australia sit in sixth place.

In the One Day International rankings, West Indies have crept back into the top eight after gaining two points to edge ahead of Pakistan.

They now have 88 points, just one clear of Pakistan, with reigning world champions Australia leading the pack on 124 points.

The Windies were ranked ninth at the September 30 cut-off date last year, causing them to miss out on a spot at the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy in England.

Latest ICC Twenty20 International rankings.

1 New Zealand 132

2 India 132

3 West Indies 122

4 South Africa 119

5 England 114

6 Australia 110

7 Pakistan 104

8 Sri Lanka 98

9 Afghanistan 78

10 Bangladesh 74

11 Netherlands 67 

PATHLOGICAL LIAR, XENOPHOBE, MISOGYNIST, DEMAGOGUE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE....DONALD TRUMP.....A Racist, Sexist Lying Con Man Sits Atop The Party Of Lincoln Congratulations, America.

National Political Reporter, The Huffington Post 05/04/2016 09:17 pm ET

Donald Trump is the presumptive Republican nominee for president. Let that sink in.

Donald Trump

One year ago, in May 2015, the nation’s political attention was focused on former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R), who was making the case for immigration reform, including a path to legal status for undocumented residents. At the time, Bush’s message seemed in tune with a new direction for his party. In 2012, the Republican National Committee published a report on how to win the White House in 2016. Key to the plan was expanding the GOP’s appeal to minorities, women and young people.

That’s not exactly what happened.

As a candidate, Trump has encouraged his supporters to beat up members of the Black Lives Matter movement who protest his rallies, calling them “outside agitators,” the term used 50 years ago to describe civil rights activists in the Deep South.

“I love the old days,” Trump said in February. “You know what they used to do to [protesters] like that when they were in a place like this? They’d be carried out on a stretcher.” But Trump’s open racism should come as no surprise. Many people learn how to approach the world from their parents. Trump’s father, Fred Trump, was arrested at a Ku Klux Klan rally in 1927. None other than the great political songwriter Woody Guthrie singled Fred Trump out as a vicious racist. In the 1970s, Trump and his father were sued by the Justice Department for systematically refusing to rent their apartments to black tenants. A decade later, Trump took out full-page ads calling for the execution of five young black men who were accused — falsely, it turned out — of raping and savagely beating a jogger in Central Park.  

Trump’s racially tinged presidential campaign is part of a continuum that goes back to the 1980s and a refinement of the Southern strategy, a political plan devised by former Reagan campaign guru Lee Atwater and former Nixon aide Roger Stone, according to Trump biographer Wayne Barrett.  more

5,000-1 odds LEICESTER CITY CROWNED BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE CHAMPION: Captain Burrell hails Leicester City’s & Jamaica's Reggae Boy Wes Morgan.... Fearless Foxes!

 Tuesday, May 03, 2016    

Captain Horace Burrell, the president of the Jamaica Football Federation, has heaped praise on Reggae Boy Wes Morgan and his Leicester City team on achieving their first Barclays Premier League title success.

Leicester City’s defender, Wes Morgan celebrates scoring
the equalising 1-1 goal during the English Premier League football
 match against Manchester United at Old Trafford in Manchester,
 north-west England, on Sunday. (Photo: AFP)OLI SCARFF

The ‘Foxes’, as the club is called, were crowned champions yesterday when dethroned champions Chelsea recovered from two goals down at half-time to draw 2-2 with Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bride, thus leaving Leicester City on an unassailable 77 points, seven more than nearest challenger Tottenham, with only two games (six points) to play for.

They started their campaign with the odds highly stacked against them, but maintained a high level of consistency throughout the season to upset the applecart in what is being described as the most remarkable story in football history.

After almost being relegated last season, the Morgan-captained team demonstrated passion and determination in an impressive fairytale season, battling to 22 victories, 11 draws and losing a mere three games on their way to the maiden title — with two games to spare. “The achievement of Leicester City, and more importantly under the captaincy of Wes Morgan, is simply incredible. This is a moment of history and this is a moment that I am sure they would never want to forget,” Burrell told the Jamaica Observeryesterday.

“This is a team that was almost relegated last time around, and they came in with the odds against them and they have now overturned the odds and have won the league. I think this will not only be good for Leicester, but certainly for Jamaica’s football development.

“Their accomplishment is truly great and congratulations to him (Wes) and the entire team. They have done so well and I believe that the entire community of Leicester City would be celebrating and will continue to celebrate for months and years to come,” he added.

With Morgan, 32, being an instrumental figure in the defensive line for the new English champions, Burrell expressed optimism that this victory will be an inspiration which will signal a turning point in the Reggae Boyz exploits. more

POLICE Commissioner, Dr Carl Williams yesterday disclosed that Jamaica says USA to join hunt..... Americans offer help in tracking missionaries’ killers

BY KIMONE FRANCIS Observer staff reporter francisk@jamaicaobserver.com  Tuesday, May 03, 2016 

POLICE Commissioner Dr Carl Williams yesterday disclosed that Jamaica is receiving help from the United States to track down the killers of two American missionaries whose bodies were found in a remote part of Boscobel, St Mary, between Saturday and Sunday.

Police report that 48-year-old Randy Hentzel and 53-year-old Harold Nichols rented motorcycles in Ocho Rios, St Ann, and went on a trail on Saturday. Residents later stumbled upon Hentzel’s body after 12:00 pm, face down with the hands bound. Nichols’ body was found sometime after 2:00 pm on Sunday with his head bashed in.

Police Commissioner Dr Carl Williams addressing a news
conference yesterday on the killing of two American
 missionaries. He said the Jamaican police were doing
 everything possible to identify and apprehend the
 criminals responsible. Bryan Cummings 

“A high-level investigation has been launched into this matter. Residents have pledged to co-operate fully with the authorities to ensure the perpetrators of this atrocious crime are sought and prosecuted,” Commissioner Williams told journalists yesterday during a hastily called press conference at his office, adding that “expert” investigators have been assigned to the case.

While Williams did not state specifically who the expert investigators were, Joshua Polacheck, the counselor for public affairs at the US Embassy in Kingston, told the Jamaica Observer last night that they would likely be law enforcement officers from multiple US agencies in Jamaica, among them the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the US Marshals Service; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

At his press conference, the police commissioner said that investigators were still ascertaining the basic facts of the case. “Our investigators are on the ground doing their canvassing as we speak…,” he added.

The commissioner said that, while no motive has been established for the killings, he is assuring the nation and the international community that the perpetrators will be brought to justice.

“Yesterday, I called the United States ambassador to Jamaica to update him on the investigation and to assure him that we are doing everything possible to identify the criminals responsible for these brutal acts,” said Williams.

Added to that, he said an autopsy has been scheduled for today to ascertain how the missionaries were killed. more

KINGSTON, JAMAICA (BANK FRAUD) : 26-year-old woman, Jeniqua Johnson, withdraws $1.2m after opening Scotia account with $5,000

BY TANESHA MUNDLE Observer staff reporter mundlet@jamaicaobserver.com  Tuesday, May 03, 2016 

AN aspiring nurse who defrauded the Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) of $1.2 million via a cheque, after opening an account with only $5,000, is to know her fate on June 30 when she appears in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court.

Withdrawal

The 26-year-old woman, Jeniqua Johnson, had also attempted to obtain over $300,000 after lodging three other cheques to BNS.

Johnson pleaded guilty to three counts of attempting to obtain money by false pretense and a count of obtaining money by false pretense yesterday when she appeared in court. Her bail was subsequently extended by Senior Parish Judge Judith Pusey.

She was, however, warned not to return to court without the money to repay the bank. The court heard that in April of last year, Johnson wrote a cheque for $20,000 to pay Islandwide Builders, but the cheque bounced as there was not enough money in her account to cover the sum.

She also wrote two other cheques on May 19 — one for $300,000 to pay the National Water Commission and another for $19,100, to Bryan’s Studio — which also bounced.

The court also heard that Johnson wrote another cheque for $1.2 million on May 29, which she encashed at a branch of Sagicor Bank.

But Attorney Zephania Forest told the court that Johnson did not benefit from the funds and was acting at the behest of an individual whom she had never met.

He said that Johnson, who was a nursing student at a university in Kingston at the time of the offence, was referred to the individual for a job.

She was successful in getting a job, he said, which required her to collect the names of people who were interested in loans, but the business was shut down after the police got wind of its operations.

Forest said following that, the same individual contacted his client and told her that he would be starting a training school to prepare people to work in a call centre and that she should open a company account.

Johnson then went and opened two accounts — one at BNS and the other at Sagicor Bank. more

CRAZY CALLER ? : 19-year-old Felton woman, Kourtney R. Furber charged with calling ex-boyfriend cell phone more than 300 times in one day

A 19-year-old Felton woman was arrested after Milford police say she called a man's cell phone more than 300 times in one day.

Kourtney R. Furber

Court documents obtained by The News Journal indicate that Kourtney R. Furber followed her 18-year-old ex-boyfriend into Milford city limits, "motioning to him to pick up his phone" while repeatedly calling him.

Police were contacted by a man who reported that Furber kept calling his phone on April 18, Sgt. Dwight Young said. The man said he had been contacted more than 300 times, but continued to ignore the calls. Furber then called him at work, harassing him at work until he finally hung up, according to court documents. At one point, the man told police that Furber said "If you can't be with me, you can't be with your kids," according to court documents.

He also reported that Furber tried to run him off the road and threatened to bust his car windows. She also showed up at the man's workplace, where she approached him in the parking lot outside, according to court documents.

Furber was charged with harassment and released on $1,000 unsecured bond.

Teen, Augusta Uwamanzu-Nna accepted to all 8 Ivy League schools makes her choice

Story highlights

• Student accepted at all 8 Ivy League schools, plus four more decides where she'll go
• Augusta Uwamanzu-Nna recently met President Obama at the White House Science Fair

By Stephanie Gallman, CNN Updated 8:21 PM ET, Mon May 2, 2016

(CNN)A Long Island teen who received acceptance letters from all eight Ivy League schools has decided where she'll attend college in the fall.

Augusta Uwamanzu-Nna

Drum roll, please.

Surrounded by her classmates donning their own college choice T-shirts, Augusta Uwamanzu-Nna approached the podium and unzipped the black jacket she was wearing to reveal a crimson T-shirt revealing her decision: Harvard. Uwamanzu-Nna said getting into all 12 schools she applied to has been an "exciting and surreal experience," but making the final decision was not easy.

Uwamanzu-Nna said she approached the choice with an "open mind" but when it came down to selecting her school, Harvard's "dedication to excellence .. in all students" stood out. Uwamanzu-Nna, who is the daughter of Nigerian immigrants, said the school's "strong Nigerian presence" was also attractive.

Today's announcement comes on the heels of an exciting spring for Uwamanzu-Nna, who recently attended the White House Science Fair, where she got to meet President Obama.

She was also named her school's valedictorian and was a finalist at the 2016 Intel Science Talent Search for her research on cement that could help prevent underwater oil rigs from rupturing."I stand before you exuberant, but also humbled by my recent accomplishments," Uwamanzu-Nna said. Uwamanzu-Nna is the second Elmont Memorial High School student in two years to gain acceptance at all eight Ivy League schools.

The class of 2015's Harold Ekeh chose to attend Yale. Elmont Principal Kevin Dougherty said hardworking students and families, a supportive community and administrations past and present deserve the credit for the school's accomplishments. They put their "blood, sweat and tears into making sure Elmont is successful and these kids reach their fullest potential." more

MUST READ : Who is to be blamed for classism in Jamaica? Classism is Kingston’s greatest enemy, second only to crime. WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Sashakay Fairclough  Monday, May 02, 2016 

I had never experienced this thing called classism until I moved back to Jamaica. I had left at age 16 and after almost 10 years in a foreign country which has been labelled the most expensive place to live in the world, it took returning to this small third world nation to experience my first real bout of discrimination.

The poor, black Jamaicans who are most affected by classism
have done a lot for their country, so why are so many still
 made to feel like second-class citizens?

As a young lawyer, things are clearly difficult. I moved to Kingston and met a young architect who was doing quite well for himself. He had dark skin and was from uptown Kingston. I noticed straight away that Kingston was quite segregated. Like most other people I had met there, he sized me up after introducing himself.

He concluded after asking me several questions that I was not good enough for him, simply because I did not own a car. “You have to call taxis?” he asked with a disgusted look on his face. This shocked me, as living in the UK most people decide against buying cars because taking the tube is much faster, plus parking is terrible.

I had no idea that in Jamaica owning a car was a must, it was this great status symbol that separates the ‘haves’ from the ‘have-nots’. I was unaware that it helped some men to decide if certain women were good enough for them. Mind you, this was the same man who had complimented me earlier for being ‘brown’ and so worthy of an actual conversation with him. The fact that people in my own country are judged for something so minuscule broke my heart. I was even more disappointed in myself, as, for a split second I had allowed this ignorant person to make me feel inadequate and unimportant. I worked hard all my life and had returned to Jamaica under the naïve belief that I could actually contribute and make a difference in some way.

Sashakay Fairclough

Discrimination from someone of the same race and country was completely new to me and led me to ponder if my experience was unique. I had lived in Kingston for only two months and already it felt like a different planet.

Classism is Kingston’s greatest enemy, second only to crime. At first glance, the city appeared more segregated than southern parts of the United States. I wondered if the segregation was a derivative of the classism or if the opposite was true. I noticed soon after that although the elite have made attempts to separate themselves (no fault of theirs as some places are quite violent) they were failing miserably as garrisons seemed to pop up close to a lot of these so-called ‘uptown’ communities in Kingston. That probably explains why owning a car is now used to judge those worthy of relationships rather than place of residence or even skin colour. more

Boscobel in St Mary, Community grieves after 2 American missionaries found dead.... 48-year-old Randy Hentzel and Harold Nichols

By RENAE DIXON Observer staff reporter dixonr@jamaicaobserver.com  Monday, May 02, 2016    

PORT MARIA, St Mary — Sunday afternoons are traditionally spent at home with family members in Jamaica; however, for the residents of Boscobel in St Mary, Sunday, May 1 was spent searching for a man they loved, even as they grieved for another.

Residents gather at the Port Maria Police Station to assist with
 the search yesterday.

Their hope was to find Harold Nichols alive; however, they were left disappointed and overcome with grief as Nichols’ body was discovered after 4:00 pm yesterday. The body of 48-year-old Randy Hentzel had been found a day earlier on Saturday afternoon, after 12:00 pm. However, there were no signs of his colleague, missionary Nichols, after the two went on a trail in the Albion Mountain area on Saturday.

Reports from the St Mary police are that the two men rented motorcycles in Ocho Rios and went on the trail. Residents stumbled on Hentzel’s body after 12:00 pm and the police were summoned.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Dwight Powell said Hentzel’s body was found face down with his hands bound with a piece of cloth believed to be torn from his shirt. One of the motorcycles was seen beside his body. The second motorcycle was found approximately three chains away. However, there was no sign of the second missionary. While residents hoped for the best on Sunday, they were left disappointed after the body of the second missionary was found. His head was reportedly bashed in.

The police, along with approximately 70 residents, searched for Nichols from approximately 7:00 am Sunday morning until after 2:00 pm. They later returned to search with the help of canines when the body was found.

The two men, who have been visiting Jamaica for the past 14 years, have done much work in the Boscobel area.

“They have Bible study at their homes; every day the children go there,” Councillor for the Boscobel Division Fitzroy Wilson said.

“I have been working with him for the past six to seven years,” Wilson said of Nichols.

Such was the evidence of their work, that residents turned out in their numbers to aid in Sunday’s search.

“When the children go to Bible study, he provided refreshments for them. He helped some of the kids with money for school, with their back-to-school,” Wilson said. He said Nichols and his team also built homes in the Boscobel area for indigent people. more

Malia Obama is officially going to Harvard

Malia Obama

After months of rampant speculation, The White House announced the Malia Obama has chosen to attend Harvard University.

The high school senior at Sidwell Friends School will take a gap year after she graduates, according to a statement from the East Wing. She will begin her freshman year at Harvard in the fall of 2017, graduating with the class of 2021.

She sparked rumors about her college choices after she went on a tour of the Ivies, Stanford and NYU last year.

Prez Obama & Malia

Many believed that demonstrated her interest in film studies and an internship in New York City on the set of HBO's "Girls," would lead her to choose NYU, which has a top-ranked film program.

Other top guesses were first lady Michelle Obama's alma mater of Princeton University or President Obama's undergraduate institution Columbia University.Her pick, however, still connects her to her parents, both of whom attended Harvard Law School.

PRESS RELEASE : PALAS 6th Annual Scholarship Application Opens Online May 1st to June 7th 2016 at PALAS1.org

IMMEDIATE  PRESS  RELEASE

  PALAS 6^th Annual Scholarship Application Opens Online

   May 1^st to June 7^th 2016 at PALAS1.org

(High School, University/Tertiary and Re-Awardees)

ATLANTA, GA – May 1, 2016: Peace and Love Academic Scholarship, Inc. (PALAS) will open its online application process from May 1^st to June 7^th 2016 to award scholarships to financially disadvantaged students in Jamaica and the Caribbean.  PALAS, whichhas awarded 282 scholarships since its inception in December 2010, was established to honor the memory of then 18-year old Vanessa Campbell—Bridgeport High School student & an aspiring reggae artist. Vanessa was brutally murdered in Portmore, Jamaica on November 20^th 2010.

According to Executive Director Rula Brown, this year’s goal is to award 100 scholarships and computers to PALAS 2016-17recipients.  Applicants are required to fill out the online application as well as submit grades, a 300-500 word essay, and extra-curricular activities.  
PALAS has devoted its human and financial resources to help make a difference in the lives of underserved children in Jamaica, West Indies as the well as the wider Caribbean region.

PALAS MISSION

The Peace and Love Academic Scholarship program is dedicated to recognize and honor outstanding academic performances. Scholarships are awarded on an annual basis to students residing in the Caribbean region. The awards ceremony will be held at the Pegasus Hotel on August 13, 2016 in Kingston, Jamaica.

The mission of PALAS is the pursuit of the following principles, CERPS:

Commitment: PALAS is committed to inspiring pro-social friendships, strong interpersonal skills, and instilling a sense of hope in the future.

Empowerment: PALAS endeavors to provide the necessary educational tools for the each to uplift and empower themselves.

Responsibility: The focus of PALAS is to empower youth in establishing goals and following through on commitments.

Possibility: PALAS desires to expand the perspective of young people to make them aware of life's possibilities.

Support: It is our belief that an individual is dramatically influenced by their support system.  Therefore PALAS endeavors to surround young people in a caring, inclusive learning environment.

PALAS believes in accountability, transparency and honesty, therefore all funds will be invested in the scholarship program.

Help us in "Preserving Young Minds for Posterity" by making a donation online by July 7^th 2016 at www.PALAS1.org or send a check payable to PALAS, P.O. Box 5461, Alpharetta GA 30023 USA or via PAYPAL. PALAS is a non-profit, 501 (c) (3) entity.   Emails can also be sent to peaceandlovescholarship@gmail.com. For additional information about PALAS including sponsorship opportunities for scholarships in yours and/or your loved ones name or business through Partnering with PALAS (PWP), please visit us at www.palas1.org.  Thank you for participating.

ONLINE APPLICATION
                                                                                             

Mr. Rula Brown - Executive Director                                                                                                                                                       PALAS   (Peace and Love Academic Scholarship)