@rh24bold:Temperatures set to plunge

A low pressure system to the northeast of the Island will send temperatures as low as 51 degrees Fahrenheit this weekend.

And the Island is likely to be lashed with gale-force winds.

Bermuda Weather Service Meteorologist Kimberley Zuill said: "A mature, intense low pressure area to our northeast and a series of low pressure centres will feed into the existing low keeping conditions over the weekend unstable to our north-east and over our area."

"Later on Friday night gales will continue" Ms Zuill said. "On Saturday winds will gradually decrease as high pressure moves in."

Ms Zuill said seas will be very high, topping 20 to 24 foot waves outside the reef. But this weekend they will begin to drop.

However, low temperatures will extend through Monday.

Today and tomorrow, the high will be 66 degrees while the overnight low will hit 55 degrees.

But on Sunday, temperatures are expected to drop with a high of 63 degrees and a low of 51.

However, that low will not break the record for January ? the temperature plummeted to 47 degrees Fahrenheit in January, 1997 while the lowest temperature ever recorded was 44 degrees in February, 1950.

Home gets go-ahead

The new elderly residential care facility planned for St. George's has received planning approval to begin construction.

"The facility is scheduled to start this year for renovations but we are currently going through the tendering process to identify the contractors for the project," said Health Minister Patrice Minors.

The building is to be built at the former St. George's Secondary School where two of the buildings will be joined to form one facility.

An Alzheimer's care unit along with 35 units, both single and double studios, are planned along with the usual amenities such as a cafeteria, a day care and grounds for a comfortable atmosphere, Mrs. Minors said.

"The construction market is quite active right now but I'm hopeful that we can see the breaking of ground in the beginning part of the year," she added.

"It will be what's best for our seniors."

Visitor robbed

A visitor staying at a guest house was robbed of an undisclosed amount of money yesterday morning.

At 1.05 a.m., Police attended a Blue Hole Hill, Hamilton Parish guest house and spoke with the complainant who said that sometime between 5.30 p.m. on Wednesday and 12.45 a.m. on Thursday an unknown culprit gained entry to his room and took the money.

Reefs gets booost

One of Bermuda's premier resorts has been recommended in the latest Conde Nast Johansen hotel guide.

The Reefs, in Southampton, has been recommended in the 2004 Guide to North American Hotels, Inns and Resorts.

Conde Nast Johansens publish the guide for "discerning travellers who seek quality service and facilities".

"We are very pleased to be recommending The Reefs in our 2004 guide ? it is truly a reflection of its impressive hospitality," said Lesley O' Malley-Keyes, vice-president and publishing director of the guide.

The guide will be available in the autumn and features 199 hotel recommendations ranging from quiet rural retreats to spectacular resorts.

Man injured

A man received a gash to his forehead and nose when he fell 20 feet off a ladder on Thursday morning.

The 43-year-old was cleaning the second storey windows of a Jennings Bay Road, Southampton home when the ladder slipped on the tile and he fell, a Bermuda Fire Service spokesman reported.

Spokesman Lt. Dana Lovell said the Fire Service arrived at 10.41 a.m. and assisted the man with his injuries.