2024 has seen some big changes at the Compass. We’ve welcomed new faces to the reporting team and are focused on the expansion of our storytelling into new platforms.
In spite of the new, our commitment to bringing the best and most important stories to you, our readers, remains as strong as ever. This year alone, we’ve written almost 2,900 stories and had more than a million readers visit the Compass website.
So, as we look ahead to a busy start next year, with an historic vote set for April, there’s still time to celebrate the best of our stories from 2024.
Whether it was government in crisis, renewed urgency over an ongoing issue at a critical point, raising questions about transparency in public office, or a hurricane threat to life and livelihood, the Compass covered it.
Of the almost 3,000 articles published this year, these are our pick of the crop. What do you think?
Disorganised crime
The pinnacle of a three-part series, looking at issues connected to regional gun and drug trafficking, James Whittaker tracked the cabal of characters making the ‘ganja run’ from Jamaica to Cayman.
In this story, he embedded with the Coast Guard to investigate the illegal trade.
One Love
Some stories write themselves.
Take twin brothers, one love, a multimillion dollar box office smash, and set it to a reggae beat.
I dare you not to enjoy this story from Shanda Gallego.
Development on the Sister Islands
Questions about how Cayman will be developed in the years and decades to come were front and centre this year.
PlanCayman, a government initiative to update the national development plan, hosted public meetings in each of Cayman’s districts, seeking residents’ feedback. The existing national development plan, which has been in place and not been updated since 1997, does not apply to either of the Sister Islands – only to Grand Cayman.
Explore the issues this quandary raises for Little Cayman and Cayman Brac.
The amazing true story of emancipation in Cayman
2004 saw Cayman mark Emancipation Day as a public holiday.
The occasion saw the Cayman Compass takes a detailed look at how a century of slavery came to a dramatic end on these islands.
High stakes on the Caribbean Sea
– Photo: Cayman Islands National Archive
Sticking with the theme of incredible tales from Cayman’s past, set sail with Simon Boxall on the yellowing pages of a century-old journal aboard the schooner Morning Light.
This is the true story of high stakes adventure on the Caribbean Sea.
Puppy love
On their routine garbage collection run in East End one June morning, two DEH workers made a shocking discovery. What had started out as a regular day soon turned into a rescue effort to save the lives of four puppies abandoned in the trash.
This story went to the heart of the many dog-lovers in the Compass editorial team. In fact, one of the rescued dogs, ‘Hunter’ has now found his forever home with our own head of sales.
What a tail this one is. (Sorry, not sorry).
Abortion changes
In May, legal changes in the US had a palpable impact on Cayman, where procuring an abortion is currently against the law, unless done to save the life of the mother.
The changes in Florida also limited the availability of abortions for those in Cayman as well.
Norma Connolly has been following the issue since before this 2022 investigation into Cayman’s black market revealed abortion pills were being sold for $500 to people looking to terminate unwanted pregnancies illegally.
By November, the Law Reform Commission had recommended legalising abortion in the Cayman Islands. Read about those proposed changes in her latest report.
Remembering Ivan
In this special retrospective, join photographer Courtney Platt, who documented the destruction in the days and weeks following Hurricane Ivan.
Contrast these images with present day photographs taken by Platt for the Compass in the same locations.
TimeBack revives old memories
This photograph of two men standing on a small motorboat, laying some of the last tree logs for a large bonfire near the reef in East End, sparked childhood memories for Graham Rankin of a decades-long tradition.
This is one of 300,000 photos from Cayman’s history which are being revived and digitised by Compass Media and Dart as part of a project to bring the islands’ past back to life.
Call for anonymity for sex assault defendants
It took under three minutes for a jury to clear a man accused of sexual assault at Rum Point.
The court case sparked calls to ensure people accused of sexual offences are afforded anonymity until they are convicted.
Read Raymond Hainey’s reporting on the issues at stake.
Model behaviour
Models from Cayman hit the international catwalk in a big way this year.
“This opportunity allows us to shine a light on the unique contributions and creativity coming from our islands, and I am honoured to be a part of it,” Norma Ebanks, CEO of Cayman InStyle Fashion Week, told the Compass ahead of London Fashion week.
Walk back down the runway with this story.
Raegan Rutty at Miss Universe 2024
Miss Universe Cayman Islands 2024, Raegan Rutty, Cayman’s first Olympic gymnast, made her mark at this year’s 73rd edition of the Miss Universe pageant held in November in Mexico City.
The 22-year-old from East End made history at this year’s competition, becoming the first Olympic gymnast to participate.
While she didn’t win the crown and title, Rutty was selected as a silver finalist for the pageant’s ‘Vote for Change’ contest, which gave delegates a platform and voice to promote social change. Rutty was the only representative from an English-speaking Caribbean country to get into the contest.
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