More than 100 Bermuda Regiment soldiers are heading off to Jamaica for military training today.

The camp, which has been dubbed Exercise Rock Solid, will see the young men being put through their paces. The soldiers will leave the Island in two sections, one group at 6 a.m. and the second group at 2.30 p.m.

They will focus on physical fitness, weapon handling skills, and the use of conventional military tactics. It will culminate in a three day final training exercise, in which the soldiers will have an opportunity to make use of what they had learned. Some of the Island?s dignitaries are set to go to Jamaica during the camp and will visit with the soldiers during their training sessions.

Also members of the Regiment boat troop, motor transport, Regimental Police and guns assaults pioneer unit, will spend part of their training with their counterparts in the Jamaican Defence Force, in Kingston, Jamaica. There will also be an opportunity before the final training exercise, for the soldiers to assist in a Jamaican community project.

A search for a new principal for Mount St Agnes Academy (MSA) has begun. Junior/senior principal, Sister Judith Marie Rollo plans to retire in August 2005 along with elementary principal, Sister Dolores Sullivan.

The school has begun a search for a principal designate to work with them for half of the next school year.

Sister Judith said: ?We put an advertisement in The Royal Gazette and Bermuda Sun to look for a principal designate to come in January 2005, in order to have half the year with us before we leave, so they can see the culture and spirit of the school.?

Sister Dolores said: ?The advertisement is for the main principal ? we have not advertised for an assistant yet. One thing at a time.?

The sale of Newstead Hotel to developer Kevin Petty is being held up because the owner of a beauty salon on the property is refusing to move out, The Royal Gazette has learned.

Mr. Petty, who also owns the Belmont, has been in talks to buy the Harbour Road property for a year.

But the sale has been held up because Ann Proctor, who has a lease to run the Inverurie Beauty Salon at Newstead, has turned down cash settlements from the hotel?s owners as well as the offer of three or four alternative venues to move out.

Mrs. Proctor?s lease runs for another two years and the sale is on hold until she agrees to move.

When contacted yesterday, Mrs. Proctor said: ?I can?t make any comment at this time.?|

Mr. Petty also declined to comment, and Newstead owner Dana Goodfellow said: ?I really can?t talk about it. We?re just waiting. That?s all I can say.?

The Bermuda High School?s postgraduate year has proved so popular the school is being forced to expand.

Principal Roy Napier warned the school still has to do the fundraising, but BHS has received final planning approval for an additional classroom and common room areas at the IB Centre. The programme started with 12 students last year, he said, however enrolment has leapt to 70 for next year. ?It has very quickly outgrown the facility, and we need to expand.?

The school is not likely to break ground until some major fundraising is completed, he said. In an ideal world, the school would be able to receive some lead donations and break ground by late summer in order to have the facilities ready by September, 2005.

?But it will probably be later than that,? Mr. Napier added.

For now, the school is examining options to accommodate the 70 students enrolled in the programme for next year.