Western Focus

WESTERN BUREAU:With less than a week to Christmas Day, some merchants in western Jamaica are painting a gloomy picture for holiday shopping, while many of their business counterparts are upbeat that the festive season will be a good one.

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WESTERN BUREAU:The Westmoreland Organic Farmer's Society will stage its Sorrel Fest 2014 fundraiser tomorrow at the Belmont Fishing Beach, adjacent to the Belmont square in Westmoreland.

WESTERN BUREAU:A wooden frame fence under construction at the Norman Manley Beach Park, near the Negril town square, financed by the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF), has drawn the ire of members of the Negril Resort Board.

Western Bureau:As recent as four years ago, the Charles Gordon Market in Montego Bay was a haven for wanton disorder - petty thieves roaming with impunity, unsightly mounds of garbage, vendors blocking the flow of traffic, and stray animals mixing and mingling with shoppers.

"What are your views on the changes that have taken place at the Charles Gordon Market over the past four years to improve the state of the facility?"

WESTERN BUREAU:A St James man, who had previously admitted to hitting his 15-year-old daughter with a stick, was given a suspended sentence when he appeared in the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate's Court on Tuesday.