June 27, 2003 – Sen. Raymond Richards is no more.
And henceforth, reporters and editors in referring to him will properly drop the quotation marks from around the name "Usie."
That's because the freshman St. Croix legislator, who has long gone by "Usie," although it was not his given name, is now legally Usie Richards.
When the Source interviewed him last February for a profile as a new senator, Richards explained that the name "Usie" is not a traditional V.I. nickname or "pet" name.
"I chose that name," he told reporter Molly Morris then. "It's an African name," he said, meaning "serious one."
He said then that he had begun court proceedings to take the name as his own legally. The Certificate of Change of Name signed by Territorial Court Judge Patricia Steele this week states that this has been accomplished. The former Raymond Everad Richards is now officially Usie Raymond Richards.
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