Hey, Mr. DJ: Jamaica’s prime minister asks 2 deejays to end rivalry as violence escalates

Jamaica PM asks 2 rival deejays to end violence

Groups challenge discharge of heavy metals from TVA’s Kingston Plant into Clinch River

Groups challenge TVA river discharge from plant

Property owner near TVA ash spill says contaminants have his wife’s eyes swollen shut

Property owner near TVA ash spill ‘living in hell’

Scrubber to clean emissions, add to waste stream at TVA Kingston coal plant

TVA prepares to start smokestack scrubbers

Jamaica balks at US request for extradition of major suspected drug trafficker

Jamaica balks at US request for alleged crime boss

Jamaica hires Miami company to convert waste into energy, save $60 million on fuel

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Jamaica has hired a Florida company to build two plants that will convert garbage into energy and help save the government $60 million a year in fuel imports.

Jamaica police say gunmen burst into home, kill mother and critically wound 2 of her children

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Authorities in Jamaica say gunmen killed a woman and critically wounded her 6-year-old daughter and 17-year-old son.

Jamaica police question 23-year-old in connection with killing of British honorary consul

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Police in Jamaica have detained a 23-year-old man in connection with the death of a British honorary consul.

Jamaica’s government pledges to pay public school teachers $90 million in back wages

KINGSTON, Jamaica — The government of Jamaica has agreed to pay public school teachers more than $90 million in back wages over the next three years.

Jamaica seeks large cruise ships with construction of terminal along north coast

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Construction of a cruise ship terminal expected to attract nearly 1 million visitors a year will begin now that Jamaica has secured financing, the government said Saturday.

TVA to provide $40M to help Tenn. community restore image, economy after huge coal ash spill

KINGSTON, Tenn. — The Tennessee Valley Authority will provide $40 million to help restore the image and economy of a Tennessee community that suffered a massive coal ash spill from a TVA power plant.

Tenn. county seeks millions for schools, sewers, arts, PR to fix image after coal ash spill

KINGSTON, Tenn. — For a Tennessee community that fears being forever linked to one of the country’s worst environmental disasters, an estimated $1 billion being spent to clean up a massive coal ash spill that flooded its lakeside homes isn’t enough.

US asks Jamaica to extradite alleged leader of ‘Shower Posse’ gang on drug, weapons charges

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The United States has asked Jamaica to extradite a suspected crime boss to face federal drug and weapons-trafficking charges in New York, officials said Monday.

TVA planning to change to dry coal ash storage in wake of spill from a retention pond in Tenn.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. —The Tennessee Valley Authority is preparing to convert all of its coal waste and gypsum operations to dry storage in the wake of a massive ash spill from a retention pond last year in Tennessee, a TVA official said Monday.

Judges dismisses charges against former Brushy Mountain guard in East Tenn. courthouse escape

KINGSTON, Tenn. — A judge has thrown out charges that a former Tennessee prison guard helped in an inmate’s escape that left one guard dead and another wounded in 2005.

Inspector general: TVA lawyers limited $3M report on cause of Tenn. ash spill

WASHINGTON — The head of the Tennessee Valley Authority acknowledged a “larger cultural problem” at the agency as an inspector general’s report says it allowed its lawyers to stifle a $3 million study into the cause of a massive coal ash spill to limit its legal liability.

Consultants hired by TVA after spill find widespread problems with utility’s coal ash storage

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Consultants hired by the Tennessee Valley Authority after a major coal ash spill found widespread problems with how the nation’s largest public utility runs and maintains its coal ash storage operations, the consultants said in a report issued Tuesday.

TVA consultants find coal ash storage program lacks procedures, training, communication

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Consultants hired by the Tennessee Valley Authority after a disastrous coal ash spill found widespread problems with how the nation’s largest public utility is running and maintaining its coal ash storage operations.

Iowa trucker dies after being crushed by load of pipe at TVA coal ash spill site in Tenn.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — An Iowa truck driver died Monday after being crushed by a load of pipe he was delivering to the cleanup site of a massive coal ash spill in Tennessee, authorities said.

Gay bashing thrives in Jamaica, homosexuality seen as sin

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Even now, about three years after a near-fatal gay bashing, Sherman gets jittery at dusk. On bad days, his blood quickens, his eyes dart, and he seeks refuge indoors.

H2-WHOA! Australian town bans sale of bottled water, hopes rest of world will follow suit

SYDNEY — Residents of a rural Australian town hoping to protect the earth and their wallets have voted to ban the sale of bottled water, the first community in the country — and possibly the world — to take such a drastic step in the growing backlash against the industry.

Plenty of states going to great depths to monitor groundwater supplies

KINGSTON, N.H. — About a quarter mile into dense woods, geologists watch as a drilling rig twists a shaft deep into the granite bedrock of southeastern New Hampshire. They are searching for water — not to drink — but to watch.

Report: Dikes at TVA plant on ‘verge of failure’ before spill unleashed toxic sludge in Tenn.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The earthen dikes supporting a huge coal ash landfill at a Tennessee power plant were “on the verge of failure” long before they collapsed and sent tons of toxic muck into a river and lakeside community, an engineering consultant said Thursday.

Cleanup slogs along 6 months after coal ash sludge sloshed across lakeside community in Tenn.

HARRIMAN, Tenn. — Glen Daugherty watches from his wooden dock, just beyond his prized pontoon boat, as a floating dredging machine growls from across the channel of the Emory River.

Like Mexico, Jamaica sees US guns arming out-of-control gang wars

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Ships from Miami steam into Jamaica’s main harbor loaded with TV sets and blue jeans. But some of the most popular U.S. imports never appear on the manifests: handguns, rifles and bullets that stoke one of the world’s highest murder rates.

Report cites emergency communications, media errors, delayed victim response after ash spill

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Emergency crews’ response to a massive coal ash spill last year was hampered by the Tennessee Valley Authority’s failure to adopt emergency communication procedures recommended by the federal government, the public utility’s internal auditors said late Tuesday.

Cuban parliament president dismisses Obama’s recent overtures to Cuba

KINGSTON, Ontario — Cuban Parliament President Ricardo Alarcon dismissed President Barack Obama’s recent overtures to Cuba and said Saturday for the first time that the new U.S. administration’s stance is “the continuation of an illegal, unjustifiable and failed policy.”

Top Cuban government official says they won’t negotiate political system with US

KINGSTON, Ontario — A top Cuban official on Thursday said Cuba is willing to discuss everything with the Obama administration, but it won’t give up its form of government in talks to improve relations.

Jamaica hijacking suspect ordered kept in custody as defense seeks psychiatric examination

KINGSTON, Jamaica — A Jamaican man accused of trying to hijack a Canadian jetliner will remain in jail pending a defense attorney’s request for a psychiatric evaluation, a court ruled Tuesday.

Jamaican man charged with robbery, shooting in hostage standoff at Montego Bay airport

KINGSTON, Jamaica — A Jamaican man who allegedly took a flight crew hostage last week at Montego Bay’s airport and demanded to be flown off the island has been charged with offenses including robbery and assault.