(CNS): While there is some concern that drug and alcohol abuse is becoming more prevalent, crime figures for Cayman Brac fell this year, the area commander, Chief Inspector Malcolm Kay (left), told residents this week in the last of the current round of RCIPS public meetings. In January through August this year 94 crimes were logged, ranging from assault to burglary, down from 119 crimes for the same period last year (147 for the whole of 2009). Kay speculated that the rise last year was a result of Hurricane Paloma in November 2008, which resulted in an influx of people to help with the clean-up operations. “I didn’t realize it was that amount,” said Bracker Arlen Reid. I’d like to see that go down.”

(CNS): Frustrations were mounting yesterday when literally hundreds of parents and students were forced to queue in the blazing sun in order to try and get uniforms for the new school year. Following a change in uniform for the new high school system but a delay in their delivery, there will not be enough to go round and parents had to take a chance on queuing up at both the John Gray Campus and the civic centre in Bodden Town yesterday in order to get the school clothes. Parents were also angry that education authorities were not keeping them informed about what was happening. Although the minister has apologized he said it is beyond government’s control. (Photo courtesy of News 27).

(Rap-Up.com): Fresh from a split from Amber Rose, Kanye West is back on the romantic playing field. Yeezy cozied up next to Nick Cannon’s ex-fiancé and Victoria’s Secret supermodel Selita Ebanks in a suite inside Arthur Ashe Stadium yesterday (Sept. 1) to watch Andy Roddick play at the U.S. Open in Queens, New York City. The pair, rumoured to have been dating in the past, was all smiles as they sipped lime-spritzed club soda drinks, watching from seats positioned in front of “Gossip Girl” stars Ed Westwick and Jessica Szohr, who shared a laugh with the happy couple.

(CNS): The Cayman Islands Department of Tourism has given the education department 600 booklets about the islands to help school teachers, teach students about Cayman's history and heritage. "Know Your Cayman Islands is a reference guide, developed by the DoT providing basic facts about the country originally designed to assist tourism service professionals in providing historically correct and general information to visitors. DoT has used the books in its CAYMAN PRIDE programme, which provides customer service training to key frontline persons in the tourism sector. DoT said they would also be useful for new teachers coming from overseas who were also not familiar with the islands.

(CNS): Following earlier announcements that government is having trouble with uniform orders for the public schools, officials confirmed yesterday that further delays are now expected on some of the new school uniforms for the high schools. A limited supply of Year 12 Programme uniforms are available and parents will be allowed to buy two complete uniform sets as a temporary measure from today (Thursday) until the remainder of the order arrives. In the meantime, officials are issuing a dress code for students who don’t have a uniform for September only. Although the delay has not been explained, some parents angered by it have said officials simply did not order the new uniforms in time.

(CNS): As police continue investigating the fire in Midland Acres, Bodden Town, which is believed to have been deliberately set, the family are struggling to find a home and make ends meet. The family were not only left homeless by the fire which has destroyed the house, but all of their belongings have been lost as well leaving them with only the clothes they were wearing. The family has two young children who have lost all their clothes and toys. As a result local security boss Matthew Leslie who knows the young family has begun organising support from the local business community to try and get the family back on its feet. (Photo Dennie Warren Jr)

(CNS): Retailers, merchants, bars and restaurants that want to sell tobacco products next year, have only a few months left to register as provided for under the new law. Tobacco dealers have until 1 November to apply for registration for 2011. Although the tobacco ban in public places was enforced from the beginning of this year, business were given longer to comply with and understand the requirements of the law before those relating to the sale of products were implemented. All tobacco traders must register and its sale will be bound by certain restrictions.

(CNS): A donation of $45,000 from the local hedge fund industry has contributed to some success for the Children and Youth Services (CAYS) Foundation’s family reunification programme. Officials say reuniting children in the care system with families reduces the numbers in protective custody. The process of reunification is an in depth one and the grant from Hedge Funds Care (HFC) was used to employ a full time expert last year who is now seeing the results of her work. Janet Ham who is responsible for bringing families back together says the programme has many challenges but it has improved the number of successful returns.

(CNS): CID and fire experts are now investigating the cause of a house fire last night (Monday 30 August) which destroyed a home in Midland Acres Bodden Town and could have been deliberate. No one was hurt in the blaze as the family of four which included two small children of two and four years old were out at the time. The 911 emergency centre received the call at around 9pm and fire officers and police officers from Bodden Town Station responded to the address at 95 Periwinkle Arriving at the scene fire officers said the one bedroom concrete structure was engulfed in flames. Although the fire was quickly extinguished the property was severely, damaged. (Photo Dennie Warren Jr)

(CNS): Government is cancelling this year’s Jazz Fest as it says it does not have enough money to host the musical event and there has not been enough interest from the private sector to make up the shortfall. In a statement released on Monday afternoon backbench government MLA Cline Glidden, said the Department of tourism budget was cut by $4million this year which had led to the lay off of twelve members of staff in the US and therefore could not find the $1.4milllion it costs to host the festival. Government had set aside CI$250,000 for this year and was looking for private sector participation to produce the event. However Glidden said that less than of third of the money needed had been committed.

(CNS): Two more local high street banks have joined the government’s mortgage guarantee programme to enable more Caymanians to access mortgages. Butterfield and FirstCaribbean International banks will each offer an additional $5 million sum for home loans to local people who can afford a mortgage but cannot find the 25% cash to put down with the bank. The deal with the two banks was signed on Wednesday bringing the total of retail banks supporting the initiative to six. Since its inception the Government Guaranteed Home Assisted Mortgage (GGHAM) programme has helped 269 people get their own homes.

(CNS): Following reports by both Lucille Seymour and Denise Miller that they had been told their services were no longer required on Radio Cayman as government felt too many people connected to the opposition were acting as temporary hosts, the government has now defended that position. In a statement released by the premier’s press secretary government said that Radio Cayman is a government owned radio station reporting to an elected member of Cabinet and as a result the hosts must be politically neutral. The government also pointed the finger at the previous administration saying it had established the policy that the host of TalkToday, the show in question, should be a civil servant. (Photo- The current regular host of the show Sterling Dwayne Ebanks by Dennie Warren Jr)

(CNS): The Department of Education Services (DES) has begun receiving results for the external examinations taken last year, and say that all external examination results can be collected on Monday 30 and Tuesday 31 August, from 9:00 am each day, at the Clifton Hunter (formerly George Hicks) school hall. Results will not be available at the John Gray High School, DES said in a release. While no mention was made of Brac students, CNS understands that students on that island can collect their results from the Cayman Brac High School.

(Miami Herald): US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has deported Ricky Marwick Rankin, wanted on probation violation charges in the Cayman Islands.Rankin, 40, was wanted by law enforcement authorities in the Cayman Islands for criminal convictions ranging from attempted murder, burglary, assaulting police, consuming cocaine, assault causing actual bodily harm, damage to property, possession of cocaine, robbery, and possession of unlicensed firearm, according to ICE.On March 29, ICE special agents in Fort Lauderdale learned that Rankin was residing in South Florida.

(CNS): The education minister has confirmed that he was involved in a car accident early Thursday morning in his district of West Bay. Rolston Anglin told CNS that he fell asleep at the wheel for a fraction of a second as he was driving along Willie Farrington Drive and hit a rock. He said no other vehicles were involved and he was uninjured but was working from home and was unable to attend the new teacher's orientation seminar being held on Thursday morning. The smash occurred at around 1am and police attended the scene.