COSTLY DOG ATTACK A Manchester maintenance contractor who was mauled by two pit bull terriers at a company’s premises in August 2010 has been awarded $1.2 million in general damages, plus interest and special damages, after the Supreme Court found the company negligent. Justice Althea Jarrett ruled that V. & M. Import & Export Company Limited failed to properly secure its guard dogs, which attacked Alrick Knight while he was lawfully on the property. The court awarded Knight $1.2 million in general damages and $24,998.57 in special damages.
MAYDAY! WESTERN BUREAU: Jamaica’s general aviation sector is in steep decline, weakened by outdated regulations, high operating costs and what industry stakeholders describe as a policy environment that has failed to recognise the sector’s economic and strategic value. The Jamaica Aircraft Operators and Pilots Association (JAOPA) says the industry, once central to domestic connectivity, pilot training and emergency response, is now “on life support”, with only three operators and a single civilian flying school remaining — the Aviation School of the West Indies.
Blindness threatens former Guantanamo Bay chef’s livelihood For 21 years, Liston Morrison has been living in a world that has slowly faded into darkness. The 60-year-old Spanish Town resident, once a proud and hard-working chef who spent years preparing meals in Cuba, never imagined that the same job that allowed him to provide for his family would one day cost him his sight. Constant exposure to heavy steam from boiling pots gradually damaged his eyes, leaving him visually impaired and eventually unable to work.
NIA chief: Without UWO, whistleblower protection, corruption fight will stall National Integrity Action (NIA) Principal Director Dr Gavin Myers wants the Government to urgently roll out critical anti-corruption legislative reforms such as the long-proposed unexplained wealth order (UWO) regime. His call comes at a time when the country remains stuck in stagnation with a repeat score of 44 on Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI).
Tensions flare at KSAMC as JLP protests election of deputy mayor Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) councillors staged a walkout from Tuesday’s meeting of the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC) after Councillor Lorraine Dobson of the Springfield Division was elected deputy mayor. The walkout followed heated exchanges between JLP and People’s National Party (PNP) councillors over whether the election process complied with the KSAMC’s standing orders. JLP members argued that as a matter of principle, the post of deputy mayor should have gone to one of their councillors.
Diaspora elections under way amid low registration, data‑protection fears Jamaicans across the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom have begun voting in elections for the Global Jamaica Diaspora Council (GJDC), amid concerns from some leaders about what they describe as disappointingly low voter registration – and lingering unease about data security. Voting, conducted online at connectmeja.com, closes on February 20. A total of 51 candidates are seeking election: 44 contesting seven GJDC seats across the United States and Canada, with others vying for seven Youth Council positions.
House OKs income tax relief for companies that helped workers after Melissa As the country continues to recover from the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa last October, the Government is moving to provide tax relief to companies that offered financial assistance to employees affected by the Category 5 storm.
MAY PEN HORROR A resident of the usually quiet Glenmuir Drive in May Pen, Clarendon, is still shaken after recalling the horrifying moment a terrified 12-year-old boy came tearing through the streets late Sunday night, crying out that his mother had been killed, allegedly by her spouse, who the police has named as ‘Tony’ Thompson and the main suspect. The child, the resident recalled, was trembling and frantic as he begged for help – just minutes after hearing his mother’s ear-piercing screams from behind a locked bedroom door, and later seeing her lying inside with multiple chop wounds.
Witness: Sergeant, corporal denied firing weapons at Acadia scene Two of the six policemen on trial in the Home Circuit Court in connection with the January 2013 fatal shooting of three men along Acadia Drive, St Andrew, had reported that they did not fire their weapons during the deadly encounter. A detective corporal, who was an investigator in the case, testified that he was told by Sergeant Simroy Mott that neither he nor Corporal Donovan Fullerton was involved in the shooting.
From Pathways to promise Fourteen-year-old Dontae Daley has defied the odds, moving from reading at grade-one level to becoming one of the top performers in his third-form class at New Forest High School – a transformation that educators say highlights the value of early intervention, parental support, and the Ministry of Education’s Pathway Programme. Quiet and reserved by nature, Dontae entered high school reading far below his grade level. Through targeted literacy support and sustained encouragement, he has steadily rebuilt his academic confidence.