Friday as the upper house began its first session of the year.

Sen. Oughton's election followed the resignation from the Senate of Dr. Norma Astwood, who left the Island to live in Barbados.

Her replacement, Sen. Walwyn Hughes (Ind), was welcomed to the Senate by his colleagues on Friday after being appointed last month.

The Senate sent condolences to the families of Rachel Ismay Jones, Freida Constance Ratteray, John Frederick Pitman, the Rev. Wilbur Lowe Snr., Heidi Lynn Shaw, Bernard Doars, George Washington DeSilva, Ann Bristol, Ronald Doidge, Belle Dearing, Brownlow Tucker Smith Place, John Smith, Campbell Gilmore Swan, Edmund Dillas, Che Perinchief, George Desilva, and W. Vernon Jackson.