RDX - Winston Sill Although RDX thought its song Bend Over was banned from the RJR Communications group radio stations, this is not so. The song, which speaks about dancing but has a slightly sexual undertone, was released last November and has become a dancing anthem. François St Juste, general manager for radio at the RJR Communications Group (comprising Fame FM, Hitz 92 FM and RJR), said the song is not banned from the radio stations. "No, no. It certainly isn't (banned). The song has attracted some form of attention from the Broadcasting Commission," St Juste told The STAR. Precautionary measure He said the commission asked for a copy of the song. However, St Juste said the commission is yet to say whether there is a problem with the song. Nonetheless, he said the song has been re-edited as a precautionary measure. The Broadcasting Commission's executive director, Cordel Green, also said the song has not been banned. When THE STAR spoke to RDX about the issue, Renigade and Delomar said they heard about the song being banned but had not been officially informed by the station. According to Renigade, the duo does not have a problem with the song being banned but thinks such an action would be hypocritical of the station. He said: "If you gonna ban Bend Over, then it's a display of the double standard because it has a sexual undertone but it really talks about dancing. There are other songs from other artistes that speak more explicitly about sex." The fuss over Bend Over Delomar also added, "the (supposed) ban has made the song more popular since." Bend Over is featured on a number of music charts and continues to climb. In a previous feature, RDX had written an article for THE STAR discussing all the fuss over Bend Over. Renigade wrote, "let us dissect Bend Over and examine the fundamentals. Though the song has a sexual undertone due to the name, Bend Over is a dancing song, celebrating dancing, a tradition dating back to our African ancestry through dances like Kumina and Dinky Minky. In Deh, In Deh is a dance created by music selector Fire Links, Wibble Wobble and Force It Een are dances created by dancer Bermuda Kid, Bunny Hop, Macka Jook and Rub It Een are dances created by other Jamaican dancers." Dancer Latesha has to fan off some of the heat as she got down at Weddy Weddy. - Nathaniel Stewart

IS 2 PAC ALIVE









YES OR NO AND WHY

-- Edited by stewartlil at 21:41, 2008-07-25

-- Edited by stewartlil at 21:42, 2008-07-25

Britney Spears will cancel her upcoming tour if K-Fed's lawyers continue to block an agreement allowing her to take the kids on the road -- informed sources tell us.


Here's what we know. For weeks, Britney, K-Fed and Jamie Spears have been privately hashing out a plan to let the kids travel with Brit while she goes on tour. The plan is to have homes in three bases -- New Jersey, New Orleans and Los Angeles. Sean Preston and Jayden James would stay in one of these three bases and mom would commute back and forth while doing concerts in each region.

And here's a fun fact. We've learned Britney will pay Kevin in excess of $4,000 a week for each week she's on tour. The way the deal goes... Brit would get K-Fed his own pad in each of the three bases and he wouldn't even have to show up to get the money! Why, you ask, would she pay him? You figure it out....

So here's the rub. Britney, K-Fed and Jamie worked out the arrangement without the help of any of the lawyers. We're told a week ago K-Fed's lawyers became aware of the plan and were furious, thinking Jamie went behind their backs. Sources tell us K-Fed's lawyers have said they object to the plan but won't specifically say why. And Kevin apparently doesn't have the cojones to stand up to his lawyers.

Britney WILL cancel the tour if she can't take her kids... we know that for a fact.

By the way, Britney now has close to 50/50 custody and the trio has also worked out a long-term agreement, which would extend the arrangement. That too, could be compromised.

Popular jerk pork chef Steve Johnson of Bull's Jerk Centre in Walderston, Manchester, became the first motor vehicle fatality for 2009 in the parish when the car he was driving crashed into a roundabout along the Winston Jones Highway early yesterday.

Johnson, 34, was driving his Toyota Camry motor car towards Mandeville about 1 a.m., accompanied by Damion McLeod, a co-worker, when he crashed and overturned in a ditch.

Allegations are that Johnson attempted to overtake a car which started going faster. This resulted in the tragic accident.

"I was wearing my seat belt and when I look around, I did not see Steve. When I came out of the car I saw him lying further up the road, as if he was thrown from the vehicle," said McLeod. "He appeared to be dead."

The Mandeville police visited the scene and transported Johnson's body to Lyn's Funeral Parlour. McLeod received bruises to his hand.

When THE STAR visited Johnson's, Walderston ,home yesterday, scores of visitors and tearful relatives were seen in mourning. The nearby Bull's Jerk Centre was closed in recognition of his tragic passing.

His sister Sherene said "his death is a great loss to the family, the parish and the entire Jamaica".

RIP STEVE.... MY CONDOLENSCES TO SHERENE, SERENA AND THE REST OF THE FAMILY

A Haitian who travelled to Jamaica using a forged US passport was remanded in the Montego Bay Resident Magis-trate's Court last Wednesday.

Resident Magistrate Winsome Henry remanded Nelson McKenson, 25, for background checks as the accused used a fictitious name on the passport.

Bought the document

McKenson was arrested after he landed in Jamaica from The Bahamas. He claimed he bought the document because there is no Jamaican embassy in Haiti where he could have applied for the legal one.

However, RM Henry was not satisfied with the explanation and said she needed investigations to be done to ascertain whether there were other reasons for the accused man's actions.

McKenson, who owns a hardware in Haiti, pleaded guilty to uttering a forged document and will be sentenced today.

Allegations are that on January 25, McKenson presented a US passport to the immigration at the Sangster International Airport. Checks revealed that the document was fraudulent. He was attempting to board a flight to The Bahamas to catch another flight to Haiti.

Beenie Man King of bad luck

Beenie Man, him always have some badluck or crosses a follow him. We all know that January a fi him bad lucky month. Yeah yuh remember him crash di Humma and then them accused him fi Bogle Killing. Well this time him bad blessings gone over inna di month of February. After di doctor well gone a Weddy Weddy fi enjoy him self, some cross, angry and miserable patrons slash all four tires. Only if cars could talk, then him woulda know 'A Who!

Before that the Doctor went to the Bob Marley show go get him self embarrass. Him neva bill for the show and him always a run off him mouth sehh him have more number one than Bob Marley, but yet him waan fi go sit round a VIP. Mi hear sehh the Doctor and him entourage walk wid a big King chair ready fi go spread out, but when di security dem spot him a come, dem direct him to the normal side. So im seh de Marley dem disrespek imâ¦but the fact is im nevah deh pon de bill, an security haffe do dem job - which is let een artist weh deh pon de bill. No disrespek no eena dat!


Mi have more fi talk - after mi think sehh di Doctor would get a warm welcome at Striptease, but both him and him wife was really welcome with some warm booooos, people mi run out of di venue - di way how di booos dem nuff, I thought it was an angry storm coming. Beenie Man fi low the stage show thing fi a while until, him find another hit song.

Bounty pass him place

Now at the same event that Beenie Man get put in a him place, Bounty Killer was bill to perform, after all is said and done mi swear di Killer would go and give a poor people defender performance, but that neva gwaan because him favourite dude was on his mind - who else yuh think mi talk, nuh must Beenie Man - Bounty go pon stage an staat fe dis up an slaughter Beenie! An of course it neva look good at all - fe see de almshouse weh dem carry quite uppa 9 milesâ¦uppa de King a Reggae (Bob Marley) Music Celebration. Aftah de people dem neva want all dem mixup mixup deh inna dem ting.

How dem fi compare Marcia Griffiths wid Lady Saw, D'Angel and Macka?

By de way a wonda a who dem a pass dem place - how dem fi place veteran singer Marcia Griffiths eena category wid Lady Saw, D'Angel, Macka Diamond an so on - fe best dressed of the year a gwaan inna Jamaica. Marcia Griffiths no inna dem dawta category deh!

Big Up:

All ami fren dem wey a bleach inna de winta - just gwaan stay cool.

Big up C J Yardflex Miami correspondent, Happy Belated Birthday.

Big up to de Goodas Crew in NYâ¦Big up Solid Goldâ¦.Nuff Respect, Georgia eena Queens N Y and Out The Trunk Crew eena DG Canada. 957Music - Jamaica, large every time.

Big up Kareems Sunday nite oldies a Florida

Congratulation to Chrissy D and Prodigy for tying the knot.

Question:

A which reporter mi her sehh di artiste dem a look fah fi beat - a caan me because mi nuh trouble people - mi only chat dem business.

neo's emi(publishers)said under no circumstance will they allow us to release the song 'romping shop'with there sample of neo's 'independent'.
do you think we should remix the song on an original dancehall track?

HOSPITAL managers have called in an exorcist after shaken workers complained they are being terrified by a GHOST.

Spooked staff at Derbys new Royal Hospital claimed a black-clad figure wearing a cloak was stalking wards and corridors.

Now chiefs at the £334million NHS site are to summon a local priest to see off the spirit.

Petrified staff were briefed on the spooky goings-on in an email from bosses.

Senior manager Debbie Butler wrote: Im not sure how many of you are aware that some members of staff have reported seeing a ghost.

Im taking it seriously as the last thing I want is staff feeling uneasy at work.

Ms Butler sent the message after workers at the new £334million Royal Derby Hospital claimed they had seen a cloaked figure dressed in black roaming wards and corridors.

She added: I dont want to scare anyone any more than necessary, but felt it was best I made you all aware of the situation and what we are doing about it.

Ive spoken to the Trusts chaplain and she is going to arrange for someone from the cathedral to exorcise the department.

Derby was recently named the most haunted place in Britain, with more reports of ghosts, poltergeists, werewolves and other supernatural phenomena than anywhere else in the UK.

The Supernatural Britain Report, conducted by Lionel Fanthorpe an expert on the paranormal, examined ghostly goings-on in 40 cities across the UK and compiled a list of the ten most spooky places in the country.

Mr Fanthorpe found there had been 315 reports of ghosts, poltergeists, werewolves and vampires in Derby since records began an average 14 sightings per 10,000 members of its population.

Sources at the Royal built on the site of the Derby City General Hospital said the exorcism was expected within days.

One said: There have been dozens of sightings over recent weeks and people are scared witless.

Several have seen a male figure cloaked from head to toe in black darting between rooms and through walls especially in departments near the morgue.

Its affected morale so much that bosses decided they had to act. Exorcisms in England must be pre-approved by a bishop.

 A spokesman for the Bishop of Derby said: Any case such as this is put to the Bishop.

He would seek proper advice before taking action.

Experts said the spirit could be the ghost of a Roman soldier killed on the spot where the original hospital was built in the 1920s. Developers ignored protests and covered over part of one of Ancient Britains main Roman roads.

Ian Wilce, of the Ghost-finder Paranormal Society, said: There are lots of sightings on such sites.

The hospital, still known as the City General, will be officially renamed as the Royal in coming months.

A spokeswoman for Derby Hospitals NHS Trust said: We take information from staff seriously and are working with the hospital chaplaincy to put peoples minds at ease.

-- Edited by Garrick at 08:32, 2009-02-01

After more than two years, and 38 mention dates in the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate's Court, the case against 28-year-old Oniel Watt who is charged with the murder of a law student and his brother in St James has still not gone to trial.

On Wednesday when the case was mentioned, the court was told that the prosecution was still awaiting response from the director of public prosecutions (DPP) to a request for a voluntary bill.

However, defence attorney Morrel Beckford was dissatisfied with the slow progress of the matter.

Resident Magistrate Winsome Henry urged the prosecution to make every effort to communicate with the DPP so the court can be told something substantial on March 17 when the matter is again mentioned.

Watt, who lives in Westgate Hills, was implicated in the August 2006 murder of 22-year-old law student Jason McPherson and his 19-year-old brother Bryan Smith in Montego Bay Heights. His $350,000 bail was extended.

Overheard plotting

Allegations are that Smith discovered US$5,000 missing after his home was visited by the accused in July and McPherson spoke to Watt about the matter. On August 8, Watt was overheard plotting with three other men to kill McPherson. Subsequently, Watt and his accomplices allegedly took the brothers to a secluded area under the guise that he would return the missing money. The men were instead tied up and shot to death.

Watt, who was before the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate's Court, was granted bail by in the sum of $350,000 with surety. RM Wilson Smith ordered the accused to report to the Mount Salem police on Mondays and Fridays.

RM Smith in considering the application by Watt's attorneys, Morrel Beckford and Natalie Massado, said though the evidence against the accused was compelling, he had to consider bail as the investigating officer was not carrying out his duty speedily.

Stitchie performs at the Reggae Month church service at the Faith Tabernacle in St Andrew, yesterday. - Norman Grindley

Even from outside, it was clear that worship of a special sort was taking place at the Faith Tabernacle yesterday morning. And it was not the sight of the uniformed policemen and various vehicles with government plates that made it so special, but the unmistakable throb of reggae basslines, which reached into the courtyard of the St Andrew church.

The door of the auditorium opened to a full house, many of the people there specifically to celebrate Reggae Month as it got under way with a thanksgiving service. Appropriately, it was a service with a very strong musical touch, as there were performances by Stitchie, 2008 Gospel Song Competition finalist Deneese Wright and DJ Nicholas, among others.

Stuck to matters

And Rev Al Miller also stuck to matters musical, jogging to the podium to One Love and, in true selector fashion, indicating when Buju Banton's Untold Stories should be played.

Miller was in a no-nonsense mood, but was still not confrontational and at many points hilarious ("If you will turn to Isaiah Laing 42," he said to laughter) as he reminded those in charge of the production and dissemination of music at every stage of their responsibility.

"I challenge us to give reggae a fresh start. Some of what I hear is encouraging," Miller said.

Powerful tool

But for those who are falling short of the mark, Miller said, "you have a powerful tool in your hands and you don't give children razor blade to play with." He spoke about the effect that some kinds of music is having on children, asking what they are being given to think about before they go to bed.

Because of those thoughts, many do not go to the shop on the plaza anymore, "they go to 'Rompin' Shop'".

He said that reggae should satisfy the needs of a 21st-century world, among them hope, unity and love.

Minister of Information, Culture, Youth and Sports Olivia Grange said "celebrating Reggae Month could not have come at a more opportune time, as the world recently witnessed the inauguration of a black man to the presidency of United States of America. It is also a month traditionally accepted in Jamaica as Black History Month. February is also a month that popular reggae icons Bob Marley and Dennis Brown were born. Reggae is certainly February, February is reggae".

Clyde McKenzie and Tommy Cowan read lessons, with producer Donovan Germaine and members of the Sting production team also attending.

 

 

Narcotics Police at the Norman Manley International Airport last week arrested and charged a doctor who was allegedly found trying to export cocaine to the United States.

Dr Joan Black-Valentine, who according to police records, is employed to the UWI hospital as director of quality, was held Wednesday evening after her suitcase was allegedly found with approximately nine pounds (four kilograms) of cocaine.

Reports are about 6:30 p.m., Valentine boarded an Air Jamaica flight destined to Fort Lauderdale in Florida. Police were alerted by their sniffer dogs to a suitcase going up the airport luggage shoot. The luggage was removed and searched, and the illegal substance was found. Valentine was reportedly identified as the owner of the luggage. She was subsequently arrested and charged with possession of, dealing in and taking steps to export cocaine.

Dr Valentine appeared in court on Friday where she was declared only as a citizen of the United States. However, The STAR understands that the doctor was the holder of dual citizenship. Further investigations confirmed that her parish of birth is St Catherine, Jamaica.

The doctor was granted $2 million bail but did not enter a plea. She is scheduled to reappear in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court on February 27.

I KNOW THIS DOCTOR.....I CANT UNDERSTAND WHY SHE DID IT

which do you prefer to play from????

also how many of you used to play record and convert now to cd, and who just a start out???

i love play record still, cd mek life easier but i hate when mi burn a riddim den 1 or few new piece come out, mi haffi go through to whole ting again.....

NAIROBI, Kenya (CNN) -- George Obama, the half brother of U.S. President Barack Obama, has been arrested by Kenyan police on a charge of possession of marijuana, police said Saturday. George Obama was arrested in Kenya on a charge for possession of marijuana, according to police. Inspector Augustine Mutembei, the officer in charge, said Obama was arrested on charges of possession of cannabis, known in Kenya as Bhang, and resisting arrest. He is scheduled to appear in court Monday, Mutembei said. He is being held at Huruma police post in the capital of Nairobi. CNN Correspondent David McKenzie talked with George Obama at the jail where he is being held. Speaking from behind bars, Obama denied the allegations. "They took me from my home," he said, "I don't know why they are charging me." George Obama and the president barely know each other, though they have met before. George Obama was one of the president's few close relatives who did not go to the inauguration in Washington last week. In his memoir, "Dreams from My Father," Barack Obama describes meeting George as a "painful affair." Barack Obama's trip to Kenya meant meeting family he had never known. McKenzie tracked down George Obama in August 2008 and found him at a small house in Huruma, a Nairobi slum, where he lives with his mother's extended family. His birth certificate shows he is Barack Obama's half brother. The two men share the same Kenyan father. In the memoir, Barack Obama struggles to reconcile with his father after he left him and his mother when he was just a child. Barack Obama Sr. died in a car accident when George was just 6 months old. Like his half brother, George hardly knew his father. George was his father's last child and had not been aware of his famous half brother until he rose to prominence in the Democratic primaries last year.

Three young boys from the rural community of New Pera in St. Thomas barely escaped being beaten to death on Friday after residents claimed that they caught them having sex with each other in an abandoned house.

The minors, all under 11 years, were reportedly caught in the nude by residents who had been told of the youths' escapade by a little girl. Although all three boys attempted to run from the mob, one of the youngsters was held and beaten.

A Rastafarian resident was overheard saying, "Dem ting yah can't guan unda my regime, dem likkle buay yah a satan."

It was only after the intervention of a teacher in the community that the boy was released. The physical assault to the boy was obvious as he showed several signs of bruises.

The teacher, who did not want to be identified, told The STAR, "these are troubling signs and our community must be more sensitive to situations like this. While it is not something to be condoned, we as adults need to exercise more tolerance especially with children, who may be just experimenting."

ONE MISSING?

The parents of one of the boys who escaped says that since the incident they have no idea where their son is, and they are worried about his welfare.

The STAR learnt that one of the other youngsters who was celebrating his birthday on the day of the incident, was sent to stay with relatives in another parish, while the third child has left the area on his own accord.

When contacted, the Golden Grove police said they had no knowledge of the incident, and could not comment formally. They said however, that based on the assault on one of the youths, they were prepared to investigate the allegations on that premise.

The guardian of the child who was beaten says that she was surprised at her nephew's involvement, but had a word of caution for adults who inflicted injuries to him. "A only hope we neva have to do the same to any of them who beat di likkle buay," she warned.

LA man upset over job kills wife, 5 kids, himself

LOS ANGELES A man who fatally shot his wife, five young children and himself Tuesday had earlier faxed a note to a TV station claiming the couple had just been fired from their hospital jobs and together planned the killings as a final escape for the whole family.

"Why leave the children to a stranger?" Ervin Lupoe wrote, according to KABC-TV.

The station called police after receiving the fax, and a police dispatch center also received a call from a man who stated, "'I just returned home and my whole family's been shot."

Officers rushed to the home in Wilmington, a small community between the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, about 8:30 a.m., apparently within minutes of the killings. Officers could still smell the gunshot residue in the air.

Although the fax asserted that Ana Lupoe planning the killings of the whole family, police Lt. John Romero said Lupoe was the suspect. A revolver was found next to his body.

Ana Lupoe's body was found in a downstairs bedroom with the bodies of the couple's twin 2-year-old boys. The bodies of an 8-year-old girl, twin 5-year-old girls were found alongside Lupoe's in an upstairs bedroom.

It was the fifth mass death of a Southern California family by murder or suicide in a year. Police urged those facing tough economic times to get help rather than resort to violence

"Today our worst fear was realized," said Deputy Chief Kenneth Garner. "It's just not a solution. There's just so many ways you find alternatives to doing something so horrific and drastic as this."

Lupoe removed three of the children from school about a week and a half ago, saying the family was moving to Kansas, the school principal told KCAL-TV. Crescent Heights Elementary School Principal Cherise Pounders-Caver said nothing seemed to be troubling Lupoe at that time; she did not ask why the family was moving.

Kaiser Permanente Medical Center West Los Angeles released a statement confirming both Lupoe and his wife worked there; both were medical technicians.

"We are deeply saddened to hear of the deaths of the Lupoe family," it said in a statement.

In the letter he faxed to a TV station, Ervin Lupoe claimed he and his wife both had been fired and that she suggested they kill themselves and their children, too. Police described the fax but did not release the details.

KABC reported that the man claimed in the fax that a medical center administrator rebuffed them when they showed up to work, told them to file a union grievance and said, "You should have blown your brains out."

Lupoe wrote that they filed a grievance but nothing was done and two days later they were fired, KABC said.

"They did nothing to the manager who started such and did not attempt to assist us in the matter, knowing we have no job and five children under 8 years old with no place to go. So here we are," the note said.

At the bottom of the note, Lupoe wrote, "Oh lord, my God, is there no hope for a widow's son?"

The Kaiser Permanente statement made no comment on the claims in Lupoe's fax.

"He was going through some critical situations at the job, that's what he described in that two-page letter, ongoing problems at the job, and that's what prompted him to take his own life and his family's, from what was said in the fax letter," Garner said.

The two-story home, much larger than its one-story neighbors, sits in front of a railroad track in Wilmington, a small community about 18 miles south of downtown. A children's playset stood in the backyard.

Retired truck driver Jaime Solache, who lives a few doors down, said many of these newer, larger homes in the neighborhood had gone into foreclosure. The Lupoe house, which has a sign hanging above the driveway reading "The Lupoe's Pad," is about 6 years old, Solache said.

News of the killings sent shivers through the community, and several neighbors came to the yellow police tape to watch a steady procession of officials enter and leave the home.

"This area right here is quiet, calm," said Armando Chacon, who lives one block north. "People like to sit out at weekends and barbecue. Other than this, no problems at all."

A community meeting was planned later Tuesday in a local church.

It was the fifth mass death of a Southern California family by murder or suicide in a year.

On Dec. 24, a man dressed up as Santa Claus invaded a Christmas Eve party at his ex-wife's parents' home in suburban Covina. His ex-wire and eight of her relatives died from gunshots or in the house fire he set. The man later killed himself.

In October, an unemployed financial manager despairing over extreme money problems shot and killed his wife, three children, mother-in-law and himself in their home in the Porter Ranch area of the San Fernando Valley.

In June, five members of a Turkish-American family, clad in black, were found dead in an upscale home in San Clemente. Investigators say it was apparently a suicide pact but the reason is a mystery.

Six years ago, the Otto family from Boca Raton was so heartbroken at the death of their golden Labrador, Sir Lancelot, in 2008 that they had his DNA frozen.

"The only sad thing about dogs is that they have such a short life, wouldn't it be wonderful if you could live your life with the same dog," Nina Otto, the owner, observed to MSNBC.

Now, it turns out that she can - sort of.

Bereft with life without their pet, the family decided to bid on a biotech firm's dog-cloning auction in July.

On Monday, the family picked up a clone of Lancelot, called Lancelot Encore, at the Miami International Airport, where the three-month-old puppy stepped of a plane from South Korea, courtesy of Bioarts International.

Young Lancy did not come cheap: Mrs Otto sold a few pieces of expensive jewellery to raise the $155,000 price tag on the exact genetic replica of Sir Lancelot Snr.

The new arrival in the Otto house will not be lonely: he joins nine other dogs, four birds, ten cats, and six sheep.

I am hearing Mario has signed to The Inc. He danced his way to a deal.

New York base Platinum Camp recording artiste Foxy Brown lashes out against Lil Kim and Vybz Kartel for using chemical products on their skin in order to gain a lighter complexion.

In the second verse Foxy asked, Brooklyn who a di baddest gal bout here - Cassa Piece who a di baddest man bout here? Then she went on to diss Vybz Kartel and Lil Kim saying, All a di goodas gal dem buss summi (gunshot effect) - black and pretty nah fi bleach out nutten, like Lil Kim Kartel and dem bleach face summi.

When OutAroad.com contacted Foxy Brown about her attack on Vybz Kartel and Lil Kim in Im So Special remix she said, Why do you want to look like a white person and they are the same people who enslave you?

Mavados Im So Special gully remix feat Foxy Brown is fast becoming an anthem in the streets of New York and is also wide spread on various download websites.

Banmiller

A VETERAN international airline executive has given the management of Air Jamaica high marks for the new business plan announced last week.

Canadian David Banmiller, who served as chief operating officer at Air Jamaica between 2003 and 2004, says the route cuts and other changes announced by the airline are a step in the right direction.

"What they are generally doing - and I support that - is they are trimming things down. they are going to their strengths and they are deciding between routes," Banmiller tells The Sunday Gleaner in an exclusive interview. "My thought process is go to where your strengths are, perhaps increase your frequency, and take a hard look at expenses."

Union worries

Banmiller's endorsement came hours after the National Workers' Union (NWU) expressed fresh concerns about the business plan.

According to the NWU, "There is an absence of comparative and analytical data which would provide the basis for understanding the decisions taken."

But Banmiller, who had been selected to return to head the airline last year, but turned down the offer at the ninth hour, is well aware of the challenges facing the airline and believes that the management had little option.

"I was aware of the recommendations made nine months ago by the consulting group, GRA, and some of these changes are now being implemented," Banmiller states.

He agrees with the Air Jamaica executives who decided to include Miami in the routes being cut, despite the controversy which this decision has generated

"American flies into Miami as its strongest hub and that gives it a lot more flexibility in terms of pricing. The same with Delta in Atlanta, and Air Jamaica doesn't have the same structure; they are mostly origin destination. The second problem with Miami is that you have Fort Lauderdale, which is close by. So, if you had to choose between the two, you would choose Fort Lauderdale over Miami," Banmiller argues.

He suggests that Air Jamaica should instead focus on some key routes, including Toronto, Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore.

Fleet reduction

While backing the plan to cut flights to Miami, Banmiller is less sure about Air Jamaica's decision to reduce its fleet from 15 to nine aircrafts, but accepts that a reduction was necessary.

Says he: "Whether the right number is nine, 10 or 12, I haven't looked at the numbers. Nine seems on the low side because, in addition to those flying, you are generally going to have a maintenance airline that is off the line."

Having recently led the Hawaiian airline Aloha through Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Banmiller is well aware of the challenges which the management of Air Jamaica will face in terminating the leases of aircraft.

While Air Jamaica has not said how much this will cost, industry experts say the airline could have to come up with approximately US$10.8 million over the next six months to pay the companies from which it leased the airlines However, the company's business plan puts the figure at US$6 million.

Olympic Champion Michael Phelps, who vaulted to international stardom during the 2008 Summer Olympics by winning a record eight gold medals in swimming, has been caught in a very compromising position, according to a report by the British paper News of the World.

The paper has a photo of Phelps smoking from a bong, a water pipe normally used for smoking marijuana. (View the photo here.) The alleged photo was taken at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, where Phelps was visiting a female student who he was secretly seeing. The paper's anonymous source relates that Phelps partied hard each night he was there, which is not out of keeping with other reports of the Olympian since his swimming triumphs.

News of the World also makes the very provocative claim that people representing Phelps tried to snuff out the story and offered the paper extraordinary incentives not to publish their story.

Posted here

Popular dancer Ice, whose real name is David Alexander Smith, will be buried tomorrow and no outrageous dressing or unruly behaviour will be allowed.

Tommy Thompson, chief executive of Brite Lite Funeral Services, and funeral director, says Ice will not get the usual over-the-top dancehall-style funeral.

"I am of a Christian background and I want to appeal to all persons to dress nice but in a moderate way. We will not be tolerating any outrageous behaviour and the event will be heavily policed," Thompson said.

The service will be held at Our Lady of The Angels Church, 75A Molynes Road, Kingston 10, beginning at noon. Ice was christened as a Catholic and the service will be reflective of that denomination's subdued practices. Thompson also told The STAR that the service will be just over an hour long.

Best behaviour

Natasha 'Pinky' Smith, Ice's sister, told The STAR that she would like people attending the funeral to be on their best behaviour.

"Father of the church has allowed me only three tributes and these tributes will be done before the actual service begins. For this reason, the funeral service will be orderly," Pinky said.

There will not be the usually long and spirited dancehall tributes that typify many such gatherings to send off dancehall personalities. As a result, the nine-night ceremony will be the place to shine. All persons who wish to give tributes are asked to support this ceremony that will be held at 20 Zinna Avenue, Waterhouse, Kingston 11, tonight.

However, Ice's death has not received the kind of attention that other dancehall personalities, such as Gerald 'Bogle' Levy, who died 2005, usually do. Both Thompson and Pinky told The STAR that support following the dancer's death has been slow in coming.

"No entertainer has contributed, and I can say that without any hesitation, but nonetheless, we will have a good presentation and you definitely have something to write about," Thompson told The STAR yesterday.

He said that this is his way of giving back to someone he regarded as his 'son'.

"I must say Ice was like a son to me, trust me, he didn't leave any money behind to bury him and his family did not have any money either," Thompson told The STAR.

"I have decided to assist Ice with a splendid funeral because he was a good person," he said.

"I see him many times in the street and once he sees me he will hail me. He has always called me 'Daddy' and because of that mi seh 'yes son'.

"He is a fun person and they say manners take you through the world, and he was a well-mannered person," Thompson said.

Pinky confirmed the claim that the family has not received any emotional or other support from the entertainment fraternity.

"I honestly do not know if it's because I was not a part of the dancehall scene but no one has approached me in regard to my brother's funeral," she said.

Ice was renowned for his 'Gully Creepa' dance, which received international attention following the Olympics, where Usain Bolt performed the move.

The dancer was gunned down in the early hours of Boxing Day, December 26, 2008, along Newark Avenue, Kingston 11.

The St Andrew Central police said Ice was killed moments after exiting a bar where he had gone to purchase a pack of cigarettes. Further reports are that the vehicle in which he was travelling, a Mitsubishi Lancer, was also stolen.

 

 

SANTA CRUZ, St Elizabeth - The Maggoty Police in St Elizabeth say they are probing the circumstances under which two females - including a 14-year-old student of Hampton High School - were seriously wounded and their alleged attacker found hanging yesterday morning in Maggotty.

The dead man has been identified as John Peart, 40, farmer, while injured are Delvarine Raybe, 30, and 14- year-old student Shamerica Bicari - all residents of Breadnut Walk in Maggotty.

Peart's death has brought to four, the number of suspected suicides - two teenagers included - in St Elizabeth over the past week.

In the latest incident, the Constabulary Communication Network is reporting that at about 1:30 am yesterday morning, the three were involved in a dispute during which Peart reportedly used a machete to chop both the woman and the girl several times. He fled the scene. The injured were taken to hospital where they were admitted in serious condition.

About 6:45 am residents saw Peart's body hanging by a length of electrical wire from a mango tree in the community.
On Wednesday January 21, 19-year-old Dario Ebanks, who police reports say quarrelled with his mother over $500 was found dead, hanging by his belt from a tree close to his house at Flaggaman in South St Elizabeth.

On Saturday January 24, the body of 33-year-old Chrishna McNickle of Aberdeen district, who was said to be of unsound mind, was found hanging by a length of rope from a mango tree at Aberdeen district.

Then on Sunday, January 25 the body of 18-year-old Oshane Brown of Clifton district in the New Market area of North-west St Elizabeth was found hanging from an ackee tree at his home.

This past Saturday night, suspect Erik Salvador Ayala fired shots into a random crowd in Portland, Oregon. After killing two and injuring seven, Ayala shot himself in the head. The gaming connection?

Ayala is described as being "quiet" and those who knew him say this shooting comes as a complete surprise. This shooting is the worst shooting in Portland's history.

Police have released new details about the 24 year-old Ayala. He was unemployed and apparently depressed, leaving what appears to be a suicide note for his roommate. In it, he says that he can be found "somewhere downtown," but he "wasn't sure" where. Ayala also included all his personal information (SSN, back account number, alien number, etc.) He also left his PS3 to his roommate:

You know my ps3 is special. Similar USED ps3's go for AT LEAST $450-$500. Our landlord guy wants a ps3 like mine. Let him know that $400 would be a GOOD deal. If he doesn't want it, format the drive by going to Settings>System>Format Utility. You can say it "comes with the latest firmware software" to help market it on the internet. In case you don't know, it's the special "100% backwards compatible" (60 GB) ps3.

Telling that, in this makeshift will, Ayala puts the greatest importance on how his roommate should deal with the bequeathed PS3.

As an aside, the Oregon press also points out that he enjoyed playing Resistance and Left 4 Dead.

Police do not know how Ayala acquired the 9mm used in the shooting, which took place in front of a popular Portland night club, nor do police know if he selected this night club for a particular reason. Eight of the nine victims were teenagers, and many of them were foreign exchange students. The suspect was taken to the hospital after turning the gun on himself and was listed in critical condition

A bull in James Hill district, Clarendon, is now under police investigation, following the killing of its owner last Friday afternoon.

Police say they are looking into the possibility of whether the animal attacked its owner, Ira Anderson, 89, of James Hill, causing injuries that killed him. Anderson was found bleeding in his field after he had gone to attend to the animal.

Police reports are that about 4:30 p.m. Anderson left home to attend to the bull in nearby bushes. After Anderson spent an extended period in the field, relatives went to investigate and found him lying on the ground bleeding from his groin. The animal was seen standing close to the injured man. Anderson was taken to the Chapelton Hospital where he died while being treated.

The Frankfield police, who are investigating, theorise that the farmer may have been attacked by the animal, as such they are to do further checks to determine this.

Police say following the investigations, a decision will be taken about whether the animal should be killed.

January 27, 2009. Ladies and gentlemen, please dont try and holla at the First Lady or else. MediaTakeOut.com has caught wind that a man who tried to publicly flirt with Michelle Obama got suspended from his job for 6 months. 

Heres how the Cleveland Plain-Dealer is reporting it:

Drum Major John Coleman offered a quick nod, a fleeting wave and what looked like a wink -- all while keeping stride -- as he marched the Cleveland Firefighter's Memorial Pipes & Drums past President Barack Obama last week. 

Some might call it a heartwarming moment of patriotism during the inaugural parade. 

The band's leader calls it a violation of the rules, captured by CNN. Coleman has been suspended as drum major for six months. 

"We had gone over and over time and again with everyone in the band that this was a military parade. Protocol and proper decorum had to be followed at all times," said bandleader Pipe Major Mike Engle. "Unfortunately, John chose to ignore that."

You mess with the Presidents wife .. and thats yo azz.

I do not like war but this is maddddnesss


US pays $40,000 after 15 Afghans die in raid

TAGAB VALLEY, Afghanistan U.S. commanders on Tuesday traveled to a poor Afghan village and distributed $40,000 to relatives of 15 people killed in a U.S. raid, including a known militant commander. The Americans also apologized for any civilians killed in the operation.

The issue of civilian deaths is increasingly sensitive in Afghanistan, with President Hamid Karzai accusing the U.S. of killing civilians in three separate cases over the last month. Karzai has repeatedly warned the U.S. and NATO, saying such deaths undermine his government and the international mission.

In Washington, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates echoed Karzai's concerns, telling a Senate committee that "civilian casualties are doing us enormous harm in Afghanistan."

As U.S. commanders paid villagers near 15 newly dug graves, Karzai met Tuesday in the capital with relatives of some of those killed. He told the villagers he has given the U.S. and NATO one month to respond to a draft agreement calling for increased Afghan participation in military operations.

Karzai said if he does not receive a response within that time, he would ask Afghans what he should do about international military operations. The statement from the presidential palace describing the meeting did not elaborate.

The U.S. is doubling its troop presence in Afghanistan this year to take on the Taliban militia; the Taliban and other militants now control wide swaths of territory. Last year, 151 U.S. troops died in Afghanistan, the most in any year since the U.S. invaded the Taliban-ruled country in late 2001 for sheltering Osama bin Laden.

Col. Greg Julian, the top U.S. spokesman in Afghanistan, led Tuesday's delegation into the village of Inzeri, a small collection of stone and mud homes set high in a steep, rocky valley. Insurgents have a strong presence in the region just 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of Kabul.

A raid the night of Jan. 19 killed 15 people in Inzeri, including a targeted militant commander named Mullah Patang.

Afghan officials admit that Patang was killed, but villagers say civilians also died and have pressed their complaints with U.S. officials and Karzai.

The U.S. regularly makes payments to Afghan relatives of those killed in operations, but the payments are rarely publicized.

The villagers met the U.S. delegation about 100 yards from 15 newly dug graves. American officials asked for a list of the dead, but villagers said no one there was literate.

Julian told villagers that U.S. forces did not come Jan. 19 intending to fight, but opened fire after villagers fired on them. Many Afghan families are armed.

"Perhaps there may have been some people accidentally killed," Julian said as he looked at a mud-brick home where villagers said some Afghans died. "If there was collateral damage, I'm very sorry about that."

The village elder, a man named Asadullah who goes by one name, showed Julian a picture of men in Afghan army uniforms. Asadullah said they were the sons of the militant Patang.

On the back of an Afghan army truck, U.S. officials paid $40,000 in Afghan currency to representatives of the 15 people killed $2,500 for each death plus $500 for two wounded men and $1,500 for village repairs.

Lt. Col. Steven Weir, a military lawyer who helped oversee the payments, said the payments were not an admission by the U.S. that innocents were killed.

"It's a condolence payment," he said. "The villagers said none of them were in the Taliban, just peaceful individuals from the village. So by this payment they will understand it's not our goal to kill innocent people. This may help them understand we're here to build a safer and more secure Afghanistan."

When asked if the U.S. was paying money to relatives of people that the U.S. had wanted to kill or capture, Weir said: "If we did accidentally shoot someone, we want to make that right, and if we have to pay money to someone who didn't deserve it ... it's kind of like it's better to let nine guilty people go free than to jail one innocent person."

Villagers seemed appreciative. Gul Akbar, 24, who said his father died in the raid, told Julian he respected and appreciated his visit.

"I'm just very sad someone gave the other soldiers the wrong information," he said.

Abdul Hadi Wairi, a counterterrorism official in Afghanistan's Interior Ministry, said he believes there were militants in the village but that some nonc****atants also died.

"There were some civilians killed as collateral damage, and there were some old people killed, too," he said. "There were militants among them. But it was a village, it was dark. The insurgents are trying to stay in populated areas and use the villagers as a human shield."

Ghulam Qawis Abubaker, the governor of Kapisa province who was part of the delegation that met with Karzai, said Patang, the targeted militant, was among the dead. Abubaker said Patang and other villagers had weapons.

The issue of civilian casualties appears to be putting a severe strain on the U.S.-Afghan relationship.

But Weir said the U.S. couldn't just stop targeted raids on leaders of militant cells.

"When you stop these operations, the bad guys get more IEDs (b****s) in place, they bring in more foreign fighters, they destroy the bridges we build," he said. "It just goes on and on."

Julian on Wednesday planned to meet with elders from neighboring Laghman province.

Karzai said 17 civilians were killed in a Laghman raid on Jan. 7; the U.S. has said it killed 32 militants in that operation. The Afghan president also says U.S. forces killed 16 civilians during a raid in Laghman on Saturday.

Gates said that despite the obstacles, U.S. forces must strive to avoid civilian deaths.

"I believe that the civilian casualties are doing us enormous harm in Afghanistan, and we have got to do better in terms of avoiding casualties, and I say that knowing full well that the Taliban mingle among the people, use them as barriers," the U.S. defense secretary told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

"My worry is that the Afghans come to see us as part of their problem rather than part of their solution, and then we are lost."

MediaTakeOut.com just learned that on Friday LisaRaye Misicik went to court in Turks & Caicos to SNITCH on her ex-husband. Apparently the leader of the Caribbean paradise is on charges that he misappropriated the nations funds to live a lavish lifestyle.

Heres how the Turks And Caicos Weekly News is reporting what she told the investigators:

The estranged wife to Premier Michael Misick revealed the embattled leader had splashed out $100,000 per round trip to fly her from her home in Los Angeles to the TCI by private plane during their ten-month courtship.

The 41-year-old soap star also said the couple had made plans to buy a private plane and even gone so far as choosing its interior decor.

LisaRaye told the Commission of Inquiry that the Premier had given her an American Express card for which he picked up the tab to enable her to buy a new wardrobe in order to fit the bill as the countrys First Lady.

Shopping trips for clothes often topped $200,000, she said, adding that there was no limit to the couple's spending.

And one MediaTakeOut.com reader from the Turks and Caicos was nice enough to get us the court transcripts. Heres some of LisaRayes direct testimony:

LisaRaye: I did find out that the white Phantom Rolls Royce that he bought me for, I think it was either Valentine's Day or my birthday, that he had leased it through my company, how I don't know, so now I am stuck with the liability, I think it is $6,900 a month that I have to pay for it.

Michael Misicks Lawyer: So you did sign the lease on that, then, is that right?

LisaRaye: What, did you not hear me? I said that if I did sign anything, I don't remember signing anything, I was so excited about getting it, I wanted to probably make sure that it was mine if at all that I did sign anything.

Michael Misicks Lawyer:Mrs McCoy Misick, the Premier says that you knew it was leased all along and you signed the lease on it, is that fair?

LisaRaye: No, it is not fair. Not at all, sir..

Heres LisaRaye CONFIRMING MediaTakeOut.coms exclusive report that the Premiere had a jump off in Florida whom he got pregnant:

Michael Misicks Lawyer: We also understood that he supported a lady in Florida who he has told the Commission is the mother of two of his children, a lady called Mildred Rivas. I think you were aware of that at the time?

LisaRaye: Well, I was aware of this a couple of months after I married the Premier of the first child. And then I was looking through paperwork at home and found the credit card and so I questioned that. I did not know about the second child.

The second child was born a year after we were married knowing that a second child was even around and came in the midst of our marriage, you can imagine it was quite upsetting.

Mavados So Special video was being heavily promoted on BET for its big premier on 106 and Park, but a last minute intervention by someone in the legal department, prevented the video from airing. With that behind us now Mavados 'So Special' is heading for another big premier on MTV JAMS for February 2 - February 8 as Jam of The Week.

The video will be played every hour on the hour all week starting Monday Feb. 2. That will be a total of 168 plays for the week (24hrs x & 7 days = 168 spins/wk).



MTV Jams is a digital cable channel with an audience of over 18 million households including major urban markets Atlanta, Wash DC, Los Angeles, Miami, parts of NJ and NY (Long Island, Queens), New Orleans, and more.



It is a key channel to reach a passionate core music audience, industry tastemakers and progressive hip-hop fans.

A man accused of rubbing his penis on a five-year-old child was granted bail when he appeared in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday.

The accused appeared before Senior Resident Magistrate Glen Brown to answer to a charge of indecent assault.

The court was told that the complainant's mother saw her coming from the accused man's room. She reportedly told her mother that the accused rubbed his penis against her vagina. The accused and complainant live at the same house.

A lawyer representing the accused told the court his client was getting ready to leave for work when police accosted him.

Senior RM Brown said, "I dislike paedophiles," in response to the lawyer's application for bail. She, however, revealed that the accused man could live elsewhere. On that basis, he was granted $30,000 bail and ordered to move to Portland. The matter is to be tried on February 29.

Fourteen-year-old O'Brian Black did not know that his decision to take a nap in an abandoned car in Hartford, Westmoreland, would be his last.

The youngster died at the Cornwall Regional Hospital in Montego Bay on Wednesday evening as a result of injuries he is reported to have sustained from an attack by dogs, as he slept in the old vehicle earlier that day.

Information are that Black was in a Lada close to where the dogs lived in a properly fenced yard. It is believed that the dogs, however, managed to escape. The four animals reportedly went into the car and attacked the teen.

Investigators believe that Black ran when the dogs, which are all crossbreeds, attacked him. He was, however, outnumbered and sustained several bites all over his face and body before collapsing.

A member of the community discovered the unconscious Black at 7:30 a.m. It is reported that while he was in the process of trying to revive him, one of the dogs that was sitting close by launched an attack on him. He sustained several bites and was treated at the Savanna-la-Mar hospital.

Carole Malcolm, Black's aunt, accused the dogs of carrying out previous attacks. "I think they should put away these dogs because it's not the first time these dogs bite up people. Them put people in hospital already," she said. "They also attack people animals, so they are very dangerous."

The Whithorn police are awaiting the results of a post-mortem which is scheduled for Wednesday.

SECURITY GUARDS and other categories of workers, who have been fighting for the right to union representation, could soon get the chance to argue their case before the Industrial Dispute Tribunal (IDT).

Labour Minister Pearnel Charles announced yesterday that drafting instructions had been given for legislation to be created to allow workers this privilege.

"There are workers who the IDT will only listen to when they are represented by a union ... this year, that piece of legislation will come," Charles said at the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions congress held at the Jamaica Conference Centre yesterday.

The labour minister said that the legislation would allow non-unionised workers to take their cases to the Ministry of Labour, who would hear them and if necessary refer them to the IDT for a ruling.

"The IDT belongs to all of you. The legislation is now being drafted. Individual workers will be able to get their right and the minister decides what goes to the IDT," Charles said.

Right to strike

Meanwhile, Dwight Nelson, minister without portfolio in the ministry of Finance and the Public Service, has urged his colleague, minister Charles, to take legis-lation to parliament aimed at giving workers the right to strike.

"He knows that I am opposed to that," Charles replied.

The labour minister said employment is a contract between worker and employer and striking should not be the way in which the dispute is resolved.

"I want to move the country to a position where the contract of employment between workers and management sticks," Charles said.

He added: "I don't want a situation where a man has to strike for his rights. I don't consider that any right. If you break the contract you have a right to withdraw from that table."

Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller (right) shares a light moment with Pearnel Charles (left), minister of labour and social security, at the Jamaica confederation of Trade unions' fourth annual congress held at the Jamaica conference centre yesterday. Looking on is Clifton Stone, former trade unionist. - Norman Grindley/Acting Photography Editor

LABOUR AND Social Security Minister Pearnel Charles has disclosed plans to set up a social-security net to provide displaced workers with unemployment benefits.

At the same time, Charles' Cabinet colleague, Dwight Nelson, has rapped employers for making workers jobless as the first response to economic problems.

Both ministers were speaking yesterday during the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions' annual congress held at the Jamaica Conference Centre in downtown Kingston.

Social-security net

"We will be inviting unions and management to the ministry of labour to ... look at a social-security net ... we must discuss it," Charles told the gathering of trade unionists.

Charles' suggestion of a social-security net comes against the background of crippling economic conditions that have forced many local companies to send home workers.

Charles said that out of the dialogue, he intends to come up with a plan on how to provide unemployment benefits.

"When a worker is out of work, he gets nothing. If there is a fund somewhere, he can draw down," Charles said.

The labour minister later said that one of the key reasons for the consultations is to discuss funding for the programme.

"How is it going to be funded? Is it the worker who is going to pay? Is it management, the Government or the private sector who is going to pay? We have to discuss funding because all social security cannot be funded by the taxpayer," Charles noted.

Countries, like the United States ,currently have a social-security net which helps the jobless cushion bad times.

As of Friday, continuing jobless claims in the US rose by 159,000 for that week to a seasonally adjusted US$4.78 million.

Charles believes the unemployment benefit must be treated as an investment: "You get some assistance while you are out of work until you get back to work."

Blaming workers

In his address, Nelson, who is the minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, expressed discomfort at the actions of employers to make workers the first casualty in tough financial times.

"Some years ago, when we first began to feel the negative impact of globalisation, and when Jamaican companies sought to address their inefficiencies and inabilities to face competition," recounted Nelson, "the first thing they did was ... to blame the worker and throw the worker out of a job."

Added Nelson, a former trade unionist: "It is déjà vu. As the economic crisis deepens, what we are beginning to see in the Jamaican economy is a lot of companies, rather than creatively addressing ways and means of making themselves better able to face the difficulties, what they are doing, as they did with globalisation, is to make the workers the first casualty".

Meanwhile, Derrick Kellier, the opposition spokesman on labour, said that the current chronic economic conditions should not be an excuse not to pay wages.

Minimum wage

Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller also stood in the defence of the worker and urged minister Charles to beseech Cabinet to increase the minimum wage.

"The Government will not be able to shy away from a minimum-wage increase," she said.

The opposition leader urged Charles to take the matter to Cabinet tomorrow.

The firearm that gospel artiste Kassim 'Moses' Grant discharged during a dispute with an uncle-in-law in Mammee River, Gordon Town, St Andrew on Monday night, was illegal, the St Andrew North police say.

Police said the singer was not allowed, by law, to be carrying or using a firearm. "There is nothing to indicate that Moses was a licensed firearm holder," said acting Deputy Superintendent of Police Altemorth Campbell.

The police said reports in relation to Monday night's incident were that Moses and another family member had a dispute when he pulled a firearm and shot at the family member who ran.

That family member is said to have then informed a friend about the incident. The friend, Campbell said, approached Moses and inquired about the incident but the singer is said to have shot at him. The friend, who is said to be a licensed firearm holder, returned the fire and the gospel crooner ran. The body of the artiste was found yesterday morning in Mammee River.

A post-mortem report is being done to ascertain the cause of death, as there was no indication that Moses was shot. The police further said that they are not sure how the singer ended up in the river and it is unclear if he jumped off the bridge or fell.

Chain argument

When THE STAR visited the family house in Mammee River yesterday, distraught relatives spoke openly about the incident.

Moses' family member, who requested anonymity, said the men were arguing over a chain. "He (uncle-in-law) said that Kassim borrowed the chain and did not return it, but Kassim said he returned it," the family said.

She said the uncle-in-law then took the keys from Kassim's vehicle demanding that his chain be returned. "So when he did that Kassim asked that his keys be given back to him but it wasn't," she said. "It was then that he (Kassim) took out a gun and fired a shot across the river. He did not shoot at anybody. He was trying to scare the uncle-in-law into giving him back his key but he still did not give him."

Other family members at the location told THE STAR that the singer, upon not getting his keys, walked off. It was said that the uncle-in-law called a friend and told him of the situation. That friend then sped off in the direction that Moses went, shortly after which shots were heard.

Attempts to contact Moses' wife and uncle-in-law were unsuccessful.

Kassim 'Moses' Grant was popular for songs such as Salvation Story, Big Him Up, Di Real Big Man and When Di Tunda Roll.

Entertainer Sheldon 'Deva Bratt' Smith will have his carnal abuse case mention on April 28 in the Spanish Town Resident Magistrate's Court.

Smith, who is on $200,000 bail, reappeared before Senior RM Lorna Errar yesterday, but the witness in the case failed to appear. Smith's attorney Peter Champagnie asked and was successful in having the entertainer's bail extended.

Mr Smith's appearance in court arose from a July 2008 incident, where it was reported that he allegedly sexually assaulted a teenager. Investigations by the Waterford police led to him being charged with the sexual offence.

He has made numerous appearances and has been maintaining his innocence throughout.

About $4.4 billion (US$52 million) worth of cocaine was discovered on a ship at the Kingston Wharves on Tuesday.

Five foreign nationals were taken into custody in connection with the seizure.

According to Sergeant Jubert Llewellyn, spokesman for Operation Kingfish, more than 37 kilograms (approximately 81lb) of cocaine was found during an operation which was carried out by members of the Contraband Enforcement team.

Investigators say the vessel had stopped in Jamaica to take on containers, after which it was said to be heading for Panama.

The ship was reportedly searched and the captain, who is a German national and four Philippine nationals were subsequently taken into custody.

Police have arrested two 17-year-old students following a gun incident on a bus in Manchester last Friday.

The brothers, who attend a prominent high school in the parish, were detained over the weekend following investigations into reports that a gun was pulled at a bus conductor after he asked them for their bus fares.

Conductor fled

The boys have been charged with illegal possession of firearm and assault at common law and are to appear in the Mandeville RM Court today.

Deputy Superintendent Gasford Cole, head of the Christiana Police Station, sai  that the students were passengers on a minibus travelling from Mandeville to Christiana, when on reaching close to their destination, they were asked by the conductor to pay their fares. DSP Cole said the two refused and one brandished a gun and pointed it at the conductor.

It is alleged that the conductor fled the bus and went and hid in nearby bushes until the gunslinging students were gone, after which he reported the matter to the Christiana police.

Deputy Superintendent Cole said police investigations led to the arrest of the two students over the weekend.

Asked whether there is cause for concern that guns are in schools in his police division, DSP Cole said he has heard that guns were being carried by students but that last Friday's incident was the first real case that had been brought to his attention.

whts up pple who do you rate more between. ward 21 & tok.

Attorney-at-law Hugh Thompson has filed a suit against the Government seeking special damages of $100 million for loss of business opportunity over the last five years.

The suit stems from the unlawful search and seizure of documents and files from his law office in January 2003.Thompson's office in Kingston and those of attorney-at-law Ernest Smith in Kingston and St Ann were searched by the police and files removed.

The police claimed that the search was done under the Mutual Assistance (Criminal Matters) Act. The police said the search was to assist the Canadian government in the case of 57-year-old Canadian national Robert Bidwell who was wanted in connection with drug-related offences. Thompson and Smith were retained to represent Bidwell.

The lawyers filed a motion in the Constitutional Court contending that the search and seizure were unlawful. The motion was dismissed and they appealed the ruling. The Court of Appeal ruled in December 2007 that the search and seizure were unlawful and were in breach of legal professional privilege.

The defendants who are the attorney general, Deputy Super-intendent of Police Karl Plumber and the director of public prosecutions were ordered to return the files.

Thompson, who is being repre-sented by attorney-at-law Bert Samuels of the law firm Knight, Junor and Samuels, is contending that despite the court ruling, the defendants have continued to disobey the order to return his files.

Thompson is seeking damages for trespass, exemplary damages and damages for breach of his constitutional rights. He said in court documents that by reason of the unlawful detention of his files, he has been prevented from carrying on his law practice.

He is seeking $100 million in special damages from January 2003 to December 2008 and damages for additional loss of income until the files have been returned.

five-year-old will not be able to enter the Guinness Book of World Records as the youngest smoker in the world.

The indian boy's parents say they have been encouraging their son to smoke since the age of three and claim his smoking skills are dazzling.

But a spokesman for Guinness World Records told Ananova they do not have records for smoking and avoid youngest person achievements. . .

He says the youngest person ever records were avoided because "the individuals concerned may not have a choice and could be forced into it."

http://www.dlisted.com/node/30368

Aretha Smith, mother of the children killed, takes a drink of water as she attempts to calm herself.

ARETHA SMITH had not seen her children since December 21. She had got them ready, packed their clothes and took them from St Mary to Land Top, Port Morant, in St Thomas for them to spend Christmas with their grandmother, Angella Lynch.

Now, Smith will neither see nor hug them again. On Sunday night, two-year-old Niasha Cousins, five-year-old Thaila Cousins and three-year-old Jawara Cousins were burnt alive in a one-room board house in the eastern parish.

The children perished with their grandmother, who the police believe was shot by her attackers, who later set the house ablaze.

"People try fi help dem, but di fire did too bad. Even if di fire brigade di deh next door, dem couldn't save dem," one resident said.

Smith wept while residents of Land Top, braving the heat of the midday sun, watched as investi-gators c****ed through the burnt-out rubble looking for clues that could help the police crack the case.

"Mi head! Mi head a pound!" Smith wept.

Jonathan Morrison, the superin-tendent in charge of the St Thomas police, told The Gleaner yesterday that the police were probing the incident as a murder and would be relying on supporting evidence to make an arrest.

"There are leads, but it is going to rely heavily on persons being willing to come forward to give statements and also whatever forensic evidence we recover from the scene," Morrison told The Gleaner.

Morrison said the St Thomas police had not yet established a clear motive for the murder, but said "it seems to be related to a long-standing dispute between Lynch and other persons".

Shooting

Police reports are that about 11 p.m. Sunday, a person or persons unknown, saturated Lynch's board house with a flammable liquid and then kicked open the door to her dwelling and opened fire at her. Subsequent to the shooting, the house was set on fire.

Lynch's common-law husband, Albert Scott, escaped, but Lynch and the three helpless children were burnt alive.

A s****re cloud sat atop the rural community yesterday but residents remained mum for the most part. Some of those who spoke told The Gleaner that the children could be heard crying for help even as the house was transformed into a fiery furnace.

Smith was inconsolable as she wept for her children. Grabbing on to the blouse of Ivoline Campbell, a family friend, Smith was still in denial as to the fate of her mother and children.

"Mi want mi baby dem!" Smith moaned, her voice now barely audible due to hours of crying.

"Ivoline dem ova deh. Ivoline, carry mi guh a Niasha nuh, an Jawara and Thalia. Mi want mi baby dem," the mourning mother insisted as she gazed at her mother's burnt-out house.

Last conversation

One shopkeeper said that Thalia had purchased a single coil of mosquito destroyer from her just after dusk Sunday evening. It was the last time she saw her.

A few metres away, a resident reminisced on what was the last conversation he had had with the little girl he described as bright and lovely.

"She hold mi hand and den she seh 'Lata'. A di last time dat mi si har, di last time mi hold har hand," the male resident said.

Ann-Marie Hibbert, Lynch's daughter, who is in an advanced state of pregnancy, could not contain her emotions. She told The Gleaner that her mother loved having her grandchildren around. Thalia and Jawara, she said, started school in St Thomas two weeks ago.

Previous occurrence

It is the second time in three years that residents of St Thomas were waking up to the horrific reality of children being slain in such a manner.

In February 2006, four children - nine-year-old Sean Chin Jr; Lloyd Marshall George McCool, three; Jihad George McCool, seven; Jesse O'Gilvie, nine, along with their mother, Patrice George-McCool, 28; and aunt, Terry-Ann Mohammed, 40, were murdered at Duhaney Park in the parish.

Jamaicans have been forced to cower in fear as the face of brazen criminality sweeps across the island, leaving no community unscathed.

More than 70 persons have been murdered in Jamaica since the start of the year. Saturday night, four persons were murdered in Hall's Delight, east rural St Andrew. Three persons were also killed in Grants Pen, St Andrew, on Sunday.

Firemen search the rubble for clues as they attempt to piece together evidence and formulate a theory as to what caused the blaze that left four children and their grandmother dead at Land Top, Port Morant, in St Thomas. - photos by Norman Grindley/Acting Photography Editor

Ann-Marie Hibbert, daughter of Angella Lynch and the children's aunt, is comforted by Ivoline Campbell.

Residents of the community are pictures of bewilderment as they watch investigators c**** for evidence at the scene of Sunday night's horror.

THE DECISION by promoters of the San Fernando Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago, to incorporate reggae in the February 20-24 event, has not gone down well with socaphiles.

Most of the respondents to a January 23 story in the Trinidad Express newspaper hit out against promoter Marvin Warner's invitation to old-school dancehall acts to appear on all five nights of the show, which will be held at Secrets Carpark.

"The last thing Trinidad needs is reggae for carnival. Carnival is for soca, this is we culture," wrote one reader. "Who will want to go to a reggae concert around carnival time?"

Another reader wrote: "I love reggae but I am a Trini first. Please support our culture; soca is carnival music. We have to support Trini culture once and for all, because Jamaicans would not support soca at, say, Reggae Sunsplash."

Singers, Sugar Minott and Little John, and deejays, Josey Wales and Junior Cat are billed for the show, which will benefit the Food, Clothe and Educate the Children Foundation.

The reggae acts are scheduled to appear on the street parades in the days, and at the concerts in the evenings.

Carnival in Jamaica has always featured soca acts from the Eastern Caribbean, notably Trinidad and Tobago (Machel Montano, Denyse Plummer) and Barbados (Alison Hinds, among others).

Montserrat soca singer, Arrow, and Barbadian band, Square One have also appeared at Reggae Sunsplash.

The Portland police have charged Odane Passley, 21, with the murder of his common-law wife, Kelly-Ann Smith, who was fatally stabbed during a quarrel in the Mountain Pleasant community last week.

Passley is scheduled to appear in the Buff Bay Resident Magistrate's Court today to answer to a charge of murder.

According to a police report, Smith was walking along the roadway about 10:15 a.m en route to a health clinic with her two-month-old baby when she was approached by Passley.

It is reported that an heated argument developed between the two, during which a knife was pulled and Smith stabbed twice in the neck.

She was rushed to the Port Antonio Hospital by passers-by who saw her lying in bushes covered with *lo**. She died while being treated.

Passley was picked up in the Orange Bay area some 10 miles away after eluding police for more than six hours. The baby was unharmed and is being cared for by relatives.

Kevin Green will have to spend the next two weeks in custody as a trial date into the robbery with aggravation case brought against him by a taxi operator was set for February 19. Green has been in custody since December.

Allegations in the matter, which was called up in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday, are that on December 9 Green and another man boarded a taxi in the Three Miles area before robbing the driver.

The court heard that on reaching the intersection of Maxfield Avenue and Lynd-hurst Road about 10:30 on the night in question, the accused and the other man attacked the driver and held an object at his neck.

Managed to escape

The driver, however, wrestled with them and managed to escape from the vehicle. Both accused then made off with the vehicle.

The police recovered the motor car the next day. The accused man was subsequently pointed out to the police by the complainant.

Senior Resident Magistrate Glen Brown turned down a bail application for the accused.