Jonas Landwehr Mother, Stacy Landwehr says the family was always certain young Landwehr could pull it off.

Principal- Jennifer Alexander was also elated about the Common Entrance results. She says however – the results brought the most joy to the students.

Students from the Bonne Terre Proprietary School also captured other positions in the final results of the Common Entrance.

The top performer from the Dame Pearlette Louisy Primary School was Steven Mitchell; two other students were in the top ten on the island.

Leonce says hard work and dedication contributed to the academic success. Over two thousands students from across the island wrote the annual Common Entrance Exam on Wednesday June 20th.

1497 of the candidates who wrote the exam or 52.88 percent of the students scored at or above the national mean while 1334 scored below average.
Dr. Lewis reveals the top ten public schools were led by the Dame Pearlette Primary School.

The Montessori School is the best private learning institution in this year’s common entrance exam.
Although female candidates outdid their male counterparts in the English language, mathematics and general paper, three of the top performers on the exam are boys.

2571 of the common entrance candidates were assigned to the island’s 23 secondary schools.
263 are still unassigned.

She says it comes as the region is closely involved in the negotiations at the U.N. headquarters on an Arms Trade Treaty.

Her Excellency also noted the CARICOM Caucus will address a number of additional key issues during the month of July.

Minister Reynold’s pronouncement comes in the wake of a recently ended conference in Washington DC among women leaders on how to deal with the problem of human trafficking across the world.

These leaders have since committed to deal with the matter. It was an agreement they entered into with the US State Department.

The Health Minister says victims are promised jobs as maids, waitresses and laborers., However when they arrive in the region they are forced into sex work.

Health Minister Alvina Reynolds says there are plans by the Ministry of Gender Relations, CAFRA and other interested bodies to revive a coalition to fight the plague. She adds local police recently helped a woman who was a victim of human trafficking go back to her country.

Minister Reynolds says monitoring mechanisms needs to be put in place at the island’s borders to stamp out this illicit practice.

and Nutrition Institute and the Food and Agriculture Organization. Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Merlene Fredericks says the significance of eating healthy cannot be understated.

The project which was funded by the European Union began almost seven years ago at the request of the heads of government of the Windward Islands.

Principal Nursing Officer, Anne Margaret Henry maintains healthy dietary practices will ensure a healthier populace.

The initiative is a collaborative effort between the Ministries of Health, Agriculture and the Ministry of Health.

The matter of broadcast rights became an issue following the decision to allow live broadcast of Saint Lucia Carnival on TV and the internet.

In the final days of the 2010 season – ahead of major shows like the Power Soca Monarch - a number of artistes demanded royalties over the broadcast of their performances.

General Manager of the Eastern Caribbean Collective Organization for Music Rights- Steve Etienne says according to the St. Lucia Copy Rights Act Section 9, the performers seeking payments are well within their rights.

Etienne says negotiations should also take place between the broadcasters, organizers and performers prior to the event, where an ultimatum on the artiste’s rights should be reached before advancement.

The ECCO General Manager says artistes have the right to protect their interests.

Following the dip for the Groovy Soca Monarch preliminaries a few weeks ago – soca artistes Wenhaul “Alpha” Gerard and Melissa “Q-Pid” Moses called on ECCO and the Calypso Association to represent the interests of their members, the artistes in the matter.

Etienne says failure to secure broadcast rights for artistes has raised eyebrows on how well stakeholders understand and know the rights of those they seek to represent.

ECCO is calling on the various stakeholders involved in broadcasting to educate themselves and do what is in accordance with the law.

The island’s police commissioner is looking forward to an incident free carnival in which the police can make good on its intention to extend the time designated for reveling.  Commissioner Francois says police have agreed to extend the jump up time from 6pm to 7pm.

Revelers have long complained about the 6pm stop time saying it doesn’t allow enough time for a proper bacchanal.

Commissioner Francois says the Parade of the Bands will be allowed until 7pm, under certain conditions.

Francois says time extension may also apply to the various carnival shows such as Groovy and Party Soca Monarch.
However - the same conditions will apply to these shows. The two day carnival street parade will be held on 16th and 17th July.

Telecommunications giant LIME is pumping over a quarter million dollars into 2012 Carnival celebrations.

The company which says it is fully behind the island’s premier cultural showpiece is sponsoring numerous carnival bands and community events.

Several of the beneficiaries of the corporation’s largess were present at the official sponsor’s cheque handing over ceremony on Friday

LIME Corporate Communications Executive, Terry Finisterre reveals the mobile provider has contributed over 8 hundred thousand dollars over the past five years to Saint Lucia Carnival.

Representatives of the various recipients of the corporate cheques say the support of the benevolent business has been invaluable.  They claim the telecommunications giant has been a trusted and supportive partner.

Lime has sponsored several of the leading costume bands over the past five years including 8 time carnival band year winner ‘Mas Action”.

The mobile provider is also using its sponsorship to advance its latest promotion which ends on March 31st 2012.

Carnival Queen Contestant, Janelle Desir, is sponsored by Super J IGA in this year’s carnival queen pageant.

On Thursday Desir toured the Waterfront store in her first interaction with her sponsor and its employees.

Desir was taken around the store, into the customer service booth, the Deli and the storeroom.

The Fond St Jacques native will take the stage this coming Saturday to vie for the National Carnival Queen title. Desir says with Super J at her side she is even more confident of a win.

Deputy Managing Director of Consolidated Foods Limited, Martin Dorville, says the company is proud to continue its long history of sponsorship of the National Carnival Queen Show.
He says the company has been impressed with Janelle so far, in particular her outgoing and bubbly personality.
Dorville encouraged Desir to give her best and take a hands on approach in her portrayals on stage come Saturday.

21 year old Janelle Desir was born and raised in the community of Fond St. Jacques Soufriere.
She is currently employed at Discovery at Marigot Bay as a front office agent.

Another group of young people have joined the Youth Agri-Entrepreneurial Project commissioned by the Ministry of Agriculture under the National Initiative for Creating Employment (NICE).

Agriculture Minister Moses Jn. Baptiste says his ministry and the Government of St. Lucia are extremely proud to be part of the program that launched a few weeks ago in Vieux-Fort.

The program is expected to create a new generation of Agri Business men and Woman. Chief Extension Officer - Kemuel Jn. Baptist says the program will train the young participants about various fields within the sector.