Jason Cross

Mexican Government offers scholarships to Jamaican students

Published:Monday | August 8, 2016 | 2:53 PMJason Cross

The Mexican government is offering Jamaicans wishing to pursue academic studies at the master's and doctoral levels scholarship opportunities to study in Mexico at any of its more than 90 institutions of higher learning in science and technology.The...

Patterson continues push for UWI alumni to give generously

Published:Sunday | August 7, 2016 | 12:00 AMJason Cross

University of the West Indies (UWI) patron and former Prime Minister PJ Patterson is once again appealing to alumni and other benevolent well wishers to contribute generously to the institution. The contributions, Patterson said, will allow...

14-y-o among scores to display creations at expo

Published:Wednesday | August 3, 2016 | 12:00 AMJason Cross

Starting a business usually would be the furthest thing from the mind of a 14-year-old girl, but for Gabriella Spence, she is already doing it.Spence was one of approximately 100 local producers and manufacturers who displayed their authentic...

Japan to assist Jamaica's garbage problem

Published:Friday | July 29, 2016 | 12:00 AMJason Cross

The horrible condition of Jamaica's waste management system is expected to improve over the next year due to bilateral arrangements between the Government, through its National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA), and the government of Japan....

Stop resisting police arrest, warns senior cop

Published:Tuesday | July 26, 2016 | 12:00 AMJason Cross

Assistant Commissioner of Police Norman Heywood is of the view that the manner in which Jamaicans are socialised is what usually causes them to resist arrest by the police.He has joined the many persons commenting on the incident in which the police...

Cops did their best to restrain woman - INDECOM

Published:Monday | July 25, 2016 | 12:00 AMJason Cross

Deputy Commissioner of the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM), Hamish Campbell, has said that based on the cell-phone footage of the police attempting to arrest a woman who firmly resisted the officers, the lawmen were doing their...

Decision to quit is Al Miller's and church's, say pastors

Published:Monday | July 25, 2016 | 12:00 AMJason Cross

A number of pastors have weighed in on whether the Reverend Al Miller should step down as pastor of the Fellowship Tabernacle following his recent conviction for perverting the course of justice in 2010, when he purportedly attempted to transport...

Ministry grants resit opportunity to student who fell ill during GSAT

Published:Wednesday | July 13, 2016 | 12:00 AMJason Cross

The mother of a 12-year-old boy who fell ill during the first paper of the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) last March, and was unable to continue, has been overtaken with joy at news that the Ministry of Education will be giving her son another...

Classroom set-up a major deterrent to students' creativity

Published:Thursday | July 21, 2016 | 12:00 AMJason Cross

Dr Faithlyn Wilson, principal of El Instituto De Mandevilla Kindergarten and Preparatory School in Manchester, believes the traditional set-up of classrooms in Jamaica, is flawed.Dr Wilson feels the layout, where students are seated in rows and...

Bunting not shocked at Blythe's decision to challenge Simpson Miller

Published:Wednesday | July 20, 2016 | 12:00 AMJason Cross

Former National Security Minister and Member of Parliament for Manchester Central Peter Bunting has refused to take sides in the People's National Party's (PNP) presidential race and has said that he is not shocked at Karl Blythe's decision to...

Security guard was in jovial mood before killing his girlfriend

Published:Friday | July 15, 2016 | 12:00 AMJason Cross

Managing Director of KingAlarm Ltd John P. Azar yesterday described as an "absolute shock" the incident in which one of his security guards, Paul Martin, shot and killed his common-law wife, Collette Hibbert, before killing himself.Hibbert was...

'Weh wi a go get?' - Tivoli residents say sums paid out to enquiry lawyers unfair

Published:Tuesday | July 12, 2016 | 12:00 AMJason Cross

Residents of Tivoli Gardens in West Kingston have expressed dissatisfaction at the news that $150 million was paid out to lawyers who participated in the recently concluded West Kingston Commission of Enquiry.Among the attorneys who received...

Mother happy with kleptomaniac son's transformation

Published:Friday | July 8, 2016 | 12:00 AMJason Cross

Last year, when her then 16-year-old son got involved with what she describes as "bad company" in a downtown Kingston community while staying with his grandmother, everything seemed to be travelling downhill for Maria*.Though things are not exactly...

Gleaner veteran laid to rest

Published:Saturday | July 9, 2016 | 2:52 PMJason Cross

For the third time in less than one month, members of The Gleaner family gathered to say farewell to a colleague.This time, it was the retired Ezmon 'Shaka' Daley, who had spent more than 40 years of his life at the company.At a thanksgiving service...

UWI to get supercomputer to aid in making better climate change-related decisions

Published:Thursday | July 7, 2016 | 12:00 AMJason Cross

A new supercomputer that will generate accurate data on climate change-related issues is expected to arrive at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, in the next two months.The supercomputer, which costs approximately J$90 million (US$742,...

Paper shortage at six institutions not enough to stop smooth running of the grade four literacy and numeracy tests

Published:Wednesday | June 29, 2016 | 12:00 AMJason Cross

Chief Education Officer in the Ministry of Education Dr Grace McLean has reported a successful sitting of the grade four literacy and numeracy tests this past week despite paper shortages at six institutions."(Tuesday) went reasonably well. There...

Commissioner of Police orders full investigation into Alpha Girl shooting

Published:Thursday | June 30, 2016 | 7:01 PMJason Cross

Gregord O'Conner, driver of a robot taxi in which a 15-year-old second-form student of the Convent of Mercy Academy (Alpha) was travelling when she was shot in the head, allegedly by the police, has described the incident as a "wicked act".He said...

Mother in shock over burnt-out house

Published:Tuesday | June 28, 2016 | 12:00 AMJason Cross

"A dream" is how Yvonne Flemmings describes her reality yesterday, as she watched her two bedroom board house at Fletcher's Land go up in flames, and eventually burn to the ground."Right now, I just tell mi self seh it's not a real thing, it's a...

Eight Prep and Primary Schools receive awards for outstanding environmental work

Published:Monday | June 27, 2016 | 6:41 PMJason Cross

Eight preparatory and primary schools from across the island were last week awarded for outstanding environmental work, through the Jamaica Environment Trust's School's Environment Programme (SEP).Thirty-three schools from across the island...

'Too much garbage' - Local, foreign soldiers decry state of waste management in Jamaica

Published:Sunday | June 26, 2016 | 12:00 AMJason Cross

Corporal Esan Thompson of the Trinidad and Tobago (T...

Kingston makes top 20 in Bloomberg challenge

Published:Monday | June 20, 2016 | 12:00 AMJason Cross

Mayor of Kingston Dr Angela Brown-Burke was excited this week as she officially announced Kingston's selection among 19 other cities to advance to the final of Bloomberg Philanthropies' Latin America and the Caribbean Mayors Challenge.Each year, the...

Distraught GSAT parent unsure of son's future

Published:Tuesday | June 14, 2016 | 12:00 AMJason Cross

While some Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) students are basking in glory after receiving their exam results, one disgruntled parent has been left to contemplate her son's future. She is distraught with the decision made by the school, adamant that...

It is a disgrace to die an illiterate - Montague plans literacy programme for prisoners

Published:Thursday | June 16, 2016 | 12:00 AMJason Cross

Inmates in the country's penal institutions will soon be tested for literacy as another step in Jamaica's crime fighting and rehabilitation efforts.Minister of National Security Robert Montague, speaking at a Rotary Club meeting at The Jamaica...

Glenmuir Prep head boy overcomes father's death for GSAT success

Published:Wednesday | June 15, 2016 | 12:00 AMJason Cross

Othniel Howell went into the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) approximately three months after his father's death and about five months after his grandparents fell ill.With those odds, and many more, other 11-year-old boys might have given up hope...

Calm restored to Old Harbour after four men killed