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THIS WEEK”S SUMMARY
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BABY BORN ON PLANE LIKELY TO BE JAMAICAN CITIZEN—11/03/07
Based on the evidence, Dr. Patricia Holness, chief executive officer of the Registrar General’s Department (RGD), believes that baby Lateisha, the premature baby born to Jamaican parents on Cayman Airways Flight 600 on the way to Jamaica on October 2, 2007, will be registered as a Jamaican citizen. The baby’s mother, Shellesha Woodstock, was told by hospital officials in the Caymans to return to Jamaica to give birth to her baby after her water broke. Once Dr. Holness receives a statement from the airline pilot describing the details, there should be no problem registering the birth.
MOTHER KILLS SELF AND CHILDREN—11/04/07
Carol Waldron, 41, a nurse at Savanna-la-Mar Hospital, allegedly injected and killed her two children with potassium chloride and then killed herself in Montego Bay, St. James. The bodies were found in a small hotel in the tourist capital. The children were Kadijah Waldron, fourth-form student at the Mannings School and Ashley Waldron, 3 months old. The mother left a seven-page suicide note describing marital problems.
BAR CODES TO IMPROVE MAIL TRACKING IN JAMAICA—11/05/07
The Jamaican postal administration is introducing a system of new bar-coded labels designed to track registered mail. The labels use a digital format that allows information to be captured by a computerized scanner. According to Michael Gentles, Postmaster General/CEO, the only way forward is to incorporate technology. The new system is the result of continuing negotiations between the Universal Postal Union (UPU) and all member nations for creating a single data-recording format that can be used internationally to track the mail.
MAROONS COMMEMORATE ANTI-SLAVE FIGHT—11/05/07
Residents of communities like Accompong Town are the living legacy of the anti-slave struggle in Jamaica. These people, who are the descendants of runaway slaves known as Maroons, are commemorating their struggle at the same time that the English-speaking Caribbean community is celebrating the 200th anniversary of the end of the British transatlantic slave trade. According to Mark Wright, a 40-year-old descendant of the Maroons, says his people are more than 268 years old and were on the front lines of abolition. Maroons set the trend, Wright says, and the rest of Jamaica followed.
CORONER ORDERS ADDITIONALTESTS IN WOOLMER CASE—11/06/07
The coroner, Patrick Murphy, who is leading the inquest into the death of Bob Woolmer, Pakistan cricket coach who was found dead in his hotel room, has ordered additional toxicology testing be performed to settle a dispute over whether Woolmer was poisoned or died of natural causes. Murphy took action after a request from Mark Shields, Jamaican deputy commissioner of police, after forensic experts disagreed about whether or not Woolmer’s body contained traces of a fatal pesticide.
NETBALL CAPTAIN DAVIS FINED $200—11/07/07
Elaine Davis, Jamaican netball captain, was fined $200 for bringing in an illegal piece of fruit in her hand luggage. The fine was imposed by the Ministry of Agriculture Quarantine Service. Davis had an apple in her luggage. It was discovered during a routine x-ray examination of her luggage after she denied having any fruit or vegetables. Davis did not remember that she had the apple with her, says Hyacinth Smith, the team manager. Davis, who could not pay the debt immediately, has 14 days to do so.
PATTERSON CALLS FOR DIASPORA DEVELOPMENT BOND—11/08/07
P.J. Patterson, Jamaica’s former Prime Minister, is calling for a Diaspora Development Bond to be created in order to provide necessary resources for the Caribbean region to fund its development plans. According to Patterson, the region desperately needs development capital in addition to the current amounts received from remittances. The bond should include incentives to attract investment from Jamaicans in the Diaspora.
HINCHCLIFFE BEING STALKED AND THREATENED—11/09/07
Audrey Hinchcliffe, chief executive officer of Manpower and Maintenance Services Ltd., the largest janitorial firm in Jamaica, reports that her life has been threatened. She has decided to go public with the issue and is sharing the contents of four letters mailed to her by someone calling himself or herself a “concerned nurse.” The letters accuse Hinchcliffe of being a political activist and receiving contracts with the government due to her connections with the People’s National Party administration. Hinchcliffe’s firm provides services to several Jamaican hospitals.
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JAMAICAN DIASPORA NEWS
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CANADIAN ECONOMY TO ATTRACT STUDENTS FROM JAMAICA—11/03/07
Canada is enjoying robust economic times, and its educational institutions are taking advantage of the potential for growth. There is a growing trend for international students to go to Canadian colleges and universities. In 2006, 153 visas were issued for Jamaican students to go to Canada, says Blair Bobyk, political and economic counselor at the High Commission of Canada in Kingston. Canadian institutions provide incentives in the form of $2,000 (Canadian) scholarships to encourage the enrollment of Jamaican students. Students can work for a year in Canada after completing a degree. Media and journalism are popular degree programs.
JAMAICAN ARTIST PAINTS NANTUCKET—11/04/07
Hanif Samuels, a Jamaican raised in Whitehouse, is a self-taught painter who has immortalized areas of Nantucket, Massachusetts in his paintings. Samuels paints in Jamaica at times, but he spends nine months of the year on Nantucket, where he works as a bellhop at the Wauwinet Inn. He has shown his portfolio to many tourists and residents on the island and received many commissions for paintings on Nantucket.
DANIELLE DIXON NEW MISS JAMAICA UK—11/05/07
Danielle Dixon, 22, left Portland, Jamaica, for the UK in 1999. Now she has won the Miss Jamaica United Kingdom title at the 18th annual contest held in Central London. First runner-up was Melaine Robinson, whose parents are from St. Thomas, and second runner-up was Natalie Wright, a British national whose Jamaican parents are from Clarendon. Dixon is a medical student at the Imperial College of London.
JAMAICAN SHOT IN NEW YORK—11/06/07
Neville Webb, 52, was a Jamaican immigrant who worked as a security guard in Mount Vernon, New York, when he was shot on Halloween after confronting egg-throwing vandals. Charged with the second-degree murder of Webb was Nyanda Charley. He has also been charged with weapons possession. On Halloween night, Webb approached a group of teenagers who were throwing eggs at people and automobiles outside the building where he worked. He was shot in the chest and head and died the following night.
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SPORTS
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JAMAICAN ATHLETES ALSO UNDER DOPING EXAMINATION—11/03/07
Athletes in Jamaica, like all other track and field athletes around the world, are being watched for the use of drugs, particularly if they perform well and are gaining publicity in their sport, according to Neville “Teddy” McCook, General Secretary of the Jamaica Olympic Association. McCook warned supporters of Jamaican track and field athletes to be “wary” of an individual’s rapid success in the sport.
JAMAICAN SURFING TEAM ARRIVES IN CHILE—11/04/07
The national surfing team of Jamaica, led by Billy Wilmot, president of the Jamaica Surfing Association, arrived in Chile to participate in the eighth Pan American Surfing Games. According to Wilmot, the team had some bad luck in that their boards did not arrive in Santiago, Chile, with them. They had to go on to Iquique, the site of the games, without their boards and wetsuits. This has been frustrating for the team, who can only watch as other teams participate in the pre-event trainings on site.
DAVIS HOPES TEAM WINS NETBALL WORLD CUP—11/05/07
Elaine Davis, a veteran netball player who has participated in almost 100 tests, plans to retire after her fourth World Cup, but she hopes her team will win the championship so she can leave the sport as winner. Davis is confident that the number-three ranked team can overcome its poor performance of the past 18 months and have a good chance to take the top spot in the tournament. The Sunshine Girlz lost to England at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Australia, and earlier in 2007, they experienced defeats at the hands of Australia, New Zealand, and England.
BURRELL HAS PLAN TO REBUILD FOOTBALL—11/06/07
Captain Horace Burrell believes that there is a “new dawning” and “better days” for Jamaica’s football. Burrell has officially returned to lead Jamaica’s most popular sport after a Special General Meeting (Voting Congress) of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF). Dale Spencer, favored by Captain Burrell, is likely to take the position of first vice-president following the withdrawal of Linnell McLean of Trelawny.
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DEVOTIONAL
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” Send Me “
It is not unusual to hear someone say they wished there were more than 24 hours in a day. That’s usually because there’s so much to do in what seem like so little time. The demands of life presses in on us so much so, that trying to find balance is like trying to find the proverbial needle in a haystack. So many things and people calling for our attention, and to take on anymore responsibilities means that something else will have to give. For some of us, Our lives are that full.
Amidst the hustle and bustle the believer’s day, there’s a call that often time goes unheard, or un-noticed. Maybe it’s one that we hear but somehow ignore, not so much because we want to, but because it too requires that precious commodity, time, to get completed. It is the same call that echoed in the ears of the prophet Isaiah, who as he stood amidst the demands of his day, beheld the glory and holiness of the LORD and “heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” (Isa. 6:8a) Could any other call be any more important? The prophet certainly didn’t think so, as he immediately responded, “Here am I; send me” (v. 8b). In the busyness of your day, and life, how would you have responded?
God is looking for men and women who are willing to make themselves available to Him for service. When Isaiah made himself available, the LORD directed him to “Go, and tell this people…” (v. 9a). Every day, in our sphere of influence – at work, at school, or play – there are those to whom God would send a word. As His representatives on the earth, we have the responsibility of making ourselves available to carry that word. Our call may not come in the manner of a vision like Isaiah’s, but if we ensure that the peace of God stand guard over our hearts and minds (Phil. 4:7), we just might hear the Holy SPirit’s whisper enquiring of our availability. We cannot afford for our lives to be so full that we become insensitive to the inner promptings of His work.
“Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” I pray God that every one of us who hears that question will respond, “Here am I, send me”. Other than the call to salvation, there really is nothing else in this life that is more important.
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CREDITS/SOURCES
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The weekly news is compilation of new articles from top Caribbean and Jamaican news sources.
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