March 15, 2003 – Senators heard what residents of the St. Thomas-St. John district think of the presence of video lottery machines in their community Friday night. The collective opinion: not much.
About a dozen people turned out for the Committee of the Whole hearing, as opposed to the crowds on hand for the one held Thursday night on St. Croix. But what they lacked in numbers, they made up for in articulate and sometimes vociferous determination.
The community members were first on the agenda Friday, whereas on Thursday they had to wait five and a half hours before being given a chance to voice their opinions, a situation that did not go over well with those who testified at the St. Croix hearing, which went until 3 a.m. Friday.
Senate President David Jones made it clear at the outset Friday that he would not entertain any motion to move into full session for a vote on the bill before the 25th Legislature to repeal the law legalizing video lottery terminals in the St. Thomas-St. John district.
Jones noted that the Turnbull administration is challenging the government's contract with Southland Gaming to distribute VLT's in the territory. Southland sued first last month, asking the Territorial Court to uphold its 1998 contract, and the Attorney General's Office responded asking the court to nullify it. The matter is scheduled to be heard on March 24. "It is prudent to let the court decide the legality of the issue," Jones said. (See "Legal moves land VLT contract issue in court".)
With one exception — an employee of Southland Gaming — all of those testifying Friday night were adamantly against the presence of VLT's. Most objected to their having been approved with no public hearings or other input and to their possible disruptive social influence.
Lack of public input lamented
Referring to the Dec. 23 final session of the 24th Legislature at which the Senate overrode the governor's third veto in two years of bills to allow VLT's, Helen Gjessing noted that "There were no hearings, no chance for the public to respond to actions that were, in my mind, unconscionable."
Gjessing, who often testifies on behalf of the League of Women Voters but in this instance was speaking as an individual, said: "It's insulting, it's disgusting."
She added, "It kind of blows my mind that policy makers still think that gambling is the solution to our economic woes. It seems to me the social consequences will far outweigh the benefits of the VLT's."
Similar sentiments were expressed by Craig Barshinger. "We've had a major social issue decided without public input," he said.
Barshinger, who lost a close race in November with Sen. Almando "Rocky" Liburd for the at-large Senate seat, took issue with the legislative process not having been followed in the enactment of the VLT enabling law.
Describing himself with a chuckle as a "future senator," Barshinger disputed VLT proponents' claims of the machines' economic value to the territory. Jones is among those who have long advocated VLT's as beneficial to the local economy.
Addressing the Senate president, and provoking a rare smile from him during the hearing, Barshinger said: "You always have wildly creative ideas" for boosting the economy. "Why don't you think of some other means?"
Two St. Croix residents who had testified at Thursday's hearing came to St. Thomas to continue their testimony on Friday. Chenzira Kahina and Carl Christopher arrived armed with documents attesting to the social ills created by VLT's which they distributed to the senators. Kahina cited numerous jurisdictions that she said have removed the machines because of their addictive nature.
Attracting revenue vs. creating jobs
Kahina, a St. Croix community activist, said that even if the machines should bring in needed revenue for the government, they don't create jobs. "People need to work, need to support their families," she said, "and people need jobs and that doesn't seem to be a part of introducing VLT's in the community."
Christopher cited documents which he said show that the government was moving to sign a VLT contract as far back as 1996. "The cart was put before the horse," he said, "and the proper procedure wasn't followed."
Christopher also told Jones he was not being fair to St. Croix developers in questioning their motives. "We are sending a bad message to developers," he said.
Sen. Emmett Hansen II agreed that a "bad message" was being sent to developers, but he came from the other side of the issue. "We want outside development, and then we chase them away," he said.
Hansen said the government has a duty to live up to its contract with Southland Gaming.
Jason Budsan, spokesman for the ad hoc group Citizens for Fiscally Responsible Government, told the senators: "There are many ways to generate revenues for our economy. Electronic slot machines should not be the direction we should take."
In a prepared statement, Budsan said, "Let us not bring down our tourism product by adding slot machines." He also addressed the potential impact of VLT's on local people. Citing the high proportion of locals who gamble at the territory's only casino, on St. Croix, where the gaming is regulated, is said: "It is frightening. Imagine what it would be like without regulations."
Sen. Louis Hill agreed. "With no regulations in place" for the machines, he said, "we must call on the governor to enforce the laws where these machines are illegally placed." He continued, "Rather than focus on VLT's as an economic vehicle for the V.I., we should work on incentives to get cruise ships back to St. Croix, to revitalize the local marine industry. These are the real issues."
Witness found to be Southland employee
Wayne Hodge, a former operator of the V.I. Racing Association, spoke in favor of the VLT's. He said the machines should be allowed at the Clinton E. Phipps Race Track on St. Thomas. "Purses are low, overheads are high," he said. "Having VLT's would help us to have a Class 1 race track."
Under questioning later by Sen. Norman Jn Baptiste, it was revealed that Hodge is an employee — and apparently the only one locally — of Southland Gaming. Hodge said he first met Southland Gaming's president, Bob Huckabee, in January when he was hired. Jn Baptiste produced documents showing that Hodge was hired in December. "Maybe I could have been mistaken," Hodge said.
Hodge refused to tell Jn Baptiste his salary. The St. Croix senator quizzed Hodge about other aspects of his employment. Obviously vexed at Hodge's replies, Jn Baptiste finally said, "You and I are both Virgin Islanders, so I will not continue this discussion."
Sen. Luther Renee, also representing St. Croix, said video gambling even in the St. Thomas-St. John district would have detrimental effects on his island. He said the lottery terminals on St. Thomas would unfairly compete with St. Croix's casino gambling industry.
Sen. Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg, sponsor of the bill before the Senate to repeal the VLT's, asked where Austin Andrews, executive director of the V.I. Lottery, was. Andrews did not attend either hearing, despite having been invited to testify.
The Territorial Court's ruling on the validity of Southland Gaming's contract will not affect the current legality of video lottery operations in the St. Thomas-St. John district. The bill before the Senate would repeal the law allowing the VLT's. A vote on that measure is to be taken at the body's next full session, which Jones has not yet scheduled.
All 15 senators attended Friday's hearing.

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March 14, 2003 – Juan F. Luis Hospital will celebrate its first anniversary of performing angioplasty and other cardiovascular intervention procedures with an open house at 2:30 p.m. March 24 in the hospital's first-floor cafeteria.
The public is invited to tour the cardiovascular care facilities and to hear from people who have benefitted from the skills of the Cardiovascular Care Team as well as from team members.
Dr. Kendall Griffith, unit director; Dr. Michael Potts, hospital interim chief executive officer; and Dr. Dante Galiber say a cohesive team had made the year's accomplishments possible, according to a hospital release. The staff also includes Dr. Roy Arcamo and registered nurses Jill Price, Lorie Trotman, Zanna Gardner and Sara White.
In the last year, the team has performed 27 angioplasties, 11 of them elective and 16 of them emergency cases, and has inserted nine permanent pacemakers. Angioplasty is a procedure that improves blood flow to the heart for cardiac-care patients.
The Luis Hospital cardiovascular care program attracted national attention two months ago when an article written by Price appeared in a pubication that reaches health-care providers across the country. (See "Publication looks at JFL Hospital cardiac care".)

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March 14, 2003 – The people of St. Croix get opportunities both day and night on Monday to let public officials know what they think about local environmental issues, especially the island's decrepit sewage system.
Sen. Louis Hill will chair a meeting of the Senate Planning and Environmental Protection Committee at 10 a.m. Monday at the Legislative Conference Room in Frederiksted.
At the Senate committee meeting, Sonya Nelthropp, Public Works Department senior manager for federal programs compliance, will give the legislators a status report on St. Croix's wastewater treatment facilities.
She also will discuss the impact of District Judge Thomas K. Moore's order filed Monday concerning the Global Resources Management sewer-repairs contract and the government's mandates under a compliance agreement and court orders to deal with St. Croix's wastewater problems. (See "Judge finds 'reek of politics' in sewage contract.)
Then, on Monday night from 7 to 9 p.m., federal Environmental Protection Agency officials will take testimony at the Research and Extension Center on the University of the Virgin Islands campus. (See "EPA wants to hear environmental concerns".)
Also on Hill's agenda for the Senate committee:
– Planning and Natural Resources Department officials are to testify on an application from Seaborne Airlines for a major Coastal Zone Management permit to install a floating platform 25 by 40 feet in size off of the Ann E. Abramson Marine Facility in Frederiksted. The company is looking to initiate daily flights between Frederiksted and Charlotte Amalie and plans to occupy 1,000 square feet of submerged land.
– DPNR officials are to update the committee on Planning Division initiatives toward establishment of a comprehensive land and water use plan, and to outline current CZM and rezoning procedures.

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March 14, 2003 – When the 21st annual Women's Jogger Jam is run, walked, hopped or skipped Sunday on St. Thomas, it will be to help the same people — crime victims — as in years past, but this time a different agency is the beneficiary.
From the start, The Fruit Bowl sponsored the popular women's race as a fund raiser for V.I. Victim Advocates. The volunteer organization closed its doors in December.
"Being a volunteer for 22 years gets difficult," director Lynn Falkenthal said in announcing that she and six of the program's board members had decided to call it quits. The agency had struggled along without government assistance but did receive some funding from United Way of St. Thomas-St. John.
Falkenthal said as many as 5,000 victims of crime and sudden tragedy a year were guided through the reporting and recovery processes by volunteers on call 24 hours a day, every day. The 2002 figures were down, she said: a mere 3,000 calls for help. (See "Victim Advocates to cease services at year's end.)
St. Thomas's other well-known victim outreach agency, Family Resource Center, immediately stepped in to provide additional services when the Victim Advocate program closed, Michal Rhymer-Charles, FRC executive director, said Thursday. Based on activity so far, it will provide services to "well over a thousand victims" in its first year, she said.
"We have started classes for volunteers every Thursday at 5:30 p.m.," Rhymer-Charles said. The center's victim advocate program also is staffed entirely on a volunteer basis.
"We have to use volunteers," Rhymer-Charles said. "It's a 24-hour service. If we used our regular staff of 24, we would have some very dogged-looking social workers."
The training is rigorous — three hours a week for 14 weeks covering such things as crisis intervention and provisions of local and federal law regarding victims' rights. But Rhymer-Charles said there's a lot more.
Compassion is a component — to prepare advocates to relate to people in traumatic situations and in need of a helping hand. The advocates walk victims through court procedures, stay by their side in the emergency room, offer solace to homicide survivors, assist with emergency travel arrangements, help domestic violence victims to get a roof over their heads … The list goes on and on, Rhymer-Charles says.
The advocates perform a sort of "triage," she said — a medical term for setting priorities in terms of the urgency of needs and the availability of resources. "We go to see the victims if they need shelter or food, anything. We walk them through the rape kit and explain the procedure all the way through." The kit is used by medical personnel with the victim's permission to obtain evidence from the victim for use in identifying and prosecuting the perpetrator.
Sometimes the volunteers' outreach extends to helping the homeless or finding affordable air fares for victims to go off island.
Rhymer-Charles says Sunday's Jogger Jam financial support is greatly needed. The only funding now for the FRC victim advocate program is "a small grant, about $2,000," from the Law Enforcement Planning Commission, she said.
"We need every penny we can get," she said. "We could not do without the volunteers."
The new advocate training class that got under way on Thursday has eight members who come from a diversity of backgrounds, Rhymer-Charles said. "They range from 20 to 50. Some are retired, but most are full time workers."
Rhymer-Charles said she will be cheering the runners on at The Fruit Bowl on Sunday. "I wouldn't miss it — I'll be there," she said.
The two-mile run, which will get under way at 5 p.m., starts and ends at the produce store in Wheatley Shopping Center, where all the action takes place before and after the race. There will be water, watermelon slices, oranges, moral support and prizes, and the first 200 finishers will receive commemorative T-shirts.
The two-mile course leads over to Roy L. Schneider Hospital, back by Fortress Storage, around past Lockhart School and back to the hospital — and then once more around with verve for those who want to be counted as finishers. The Fruit Bowl donates $5 for every finisher to the cause.
In years past, the track has been lined with well-wishers and fans, mostly husbands and boyfriends, cheering the women on. Each year has brought out mothers pushing babes in buggies and folks pushing 70 or more on their own. Occasionally a man has shown up, only to be turned away with a sharp tsk.
Registration is $5 in advance and $10 just before the race. Those wanting to pre-register can do so at The Fruit Bowl, Players in Havensight Mall and Going Seanile in Royal Dane Mall.
For anyone needing assistance from Family Resource Center, the number to call is 776-7867 (776-stop). To sign up for victim advocate training, call 776-3966.

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March 14, 2003 – When the 21st annual Women's Jogger Jam is run, walked, hopped or skipped on Sunday, it will be to help the same people — crime victims — as in years past, but this time a different agency is the beneficiary.
From the start, The Fruit Bowl sponsored the popular women's race as a fund raiser for V.I. Victim Advocates. The volunteer organization closed its doors in December.
"Being a volunteer for 22 years gets difficult," director Lynn Falkenthal said in announcing that she and six of the program's board members had decided to call it quits. The agency had struggled along without government assistance but did receive some funding from United Way of St. Thomas-St. John.
Falkenthal said as many as 5,000 victims of crime and sudden tragedy a year were guided through the reporting and recovery processes by volunteers on call 24 hours a day, every day. The 2002 figures were down, she said: a mere 3,000 calls for help. (See "Victim Advocates to cease services at year's end.)
St. Thomas's other well-known victim outreach agency, Family Resource Center, immediately stepped in to provide additional services when the Victim Advocate program closed, Michal Rhymer-Charles, FRC executive director, said Thursday. Based on activity so far, it will provide services to "well over a thousand victims" in its first year, she said.
"We have started classes for volunteers every Thursday at 5:30 p.m.," Rhymer-Charles said. The center's victim advocate program also is staffed entirely on a volunteer basis.
"We have to use volunteers," Rhymer-Charles said. "It's a 24-hour service. If we used our regular staff of 24, we would have some very dogged-looking social workers."
The training is rigorous — three hours a week for 14 weeks covering such things as crisis intervention and provisions of local and federal law regarding victims' rights. But Rhymer-Charles said there's a lot more.
Compassion is a component — to prepare advocates to relate to people in traumatic situations and in need of a helping hand. The advocates walk victims through court procedures, stay by their side in the emergency room, offer solace to homicide survivors, assist with emergency travel arrangements, help domestic violence victims to get a roof over their heads … The list goes on and on, Rhymer-Charles says.
The advocates perform a sort of "triage," she said — a medical term for setting priorities in terms of the urgency of needs and the availability of resources. "We go to see the victims if they need shelter or food, anything. We walk them through the rape kit and explain the procedure all the way through." The kit is used by medical personnel with the victim's permission to obtain evidence from the victim for use in identifying and prosecuting the perpetrator.
Sometimes the volunteers' outreach extends to helping the homeless or finding affordable air fares for victims to go off island.
Rhymer-Charles says Sunday's Jogger Jam financial support is greatly needed. The only funding now for the FRC victim advocate program is "a small grant, about $2,000," from the Law Enforcement Planning Commission, she said.
"We need every penny we can get," she said. "We could not do without the volunteers."
The new advocate training class that got under way on Thursday has eight members who come from a diversity of backgrounds, Rhymer-Charles said. "They range from 20 to 50. Some are retired, but most are full time workers."
Rhymer-Charles said she will be cheering the runners on at The Fruit Bowl on Sunday. "I wouldn't miss it — I'll be there," she said.
The two-mile run, which will get under way at 5 p.m., starts and ends at the produce store in Wheatley Shopping Center, where all the action takes place before and after the race. There will be water, watermelon slices, oranges, moral support and prizes, and the first 200 finishers will receive commemorative T-shirts.
The two-mile course leads over to Roy L. Schneider Hospital, back by Fortress Storage, around past Lockhart School and back to the hospital — and then once more around with verve for those who want to be counted as finishers. The Fruit Bowl donates $5 for every finisher to the cause.
In years past, the track has been lined with well-wishers and fans, mostly husbands and boyfriends, cheering the women on. Each year has brought out mothers pushing babes in buggies and folks pushing 70 or more on their own. Occasionally a man has shown up, only to be turned away with a sharp tsk.
Registration is $5 in advance and $10 just before the race. Those wanting to pre-register can do so at The Fruit Bowl, Players in Havensight Mall and Going Seanile in Royal Dane Mall.
For anyone needing assistance from Family Resource Center, the number to call is 776-7867 (776-stop). To sign up for victim advocate training, call 776-3966.

Publisher's note : Like the St. Thomas Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.

March 14, 2003 – Fire destroyed a part-wood, part-masonry residence on St. Peter Mountain shortly before 6 p.m. Friday. Residents summoned firefighters from the Dorothea and Charlotte Amalie fire stations as the pungent black smoke filled the evening sky and licks of orange flame quickly consumed the wooden rafters of the house.
Fire officials said the dwelling was owned by St. Thomas businessman Denny Bryan and was rented to Lofton Holder, an assistant attorney general.
Holder, who arrived on the scene as the firefighting effort was in progress, reportedly had left his home minutes before 5 p.m. It was less than half an hour later that area residents said they smelled burning wood and called 911 for assistance from the V.I. Fire Service.
The noise of sirens filled the air around 5:45 p.m. as three fire trucks raced to the scene above St. Peter Mountain Road. Smoke filled the air more than a mile away from the blaze, causing eyes to water and sting.
By the time three fire units arrived on the scene, the residence was already a complete loss, with flames pouring from the front and western end of the structure.
Neighbors watched as about a dozen firefighters and a St. Thomas Rescue member hauled the water hoses up the steep hillside to fight the inferno. The white plastic lattice lining of the porch crumpled and fell to the ground as firefighters doused the burning structure with water from the hoses spread across the property.
Fire officials at the scene said no one was inside when the fire erupted and no injuries were reported in the course of the two hours it took to contain and extinguish the blaze.
The charred remains of the residence continued to smolder as night fell on the hillside overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.
As firefighters continued mop-up operations, Fire Service investigators were poised to begin gathering information to determine the cause and origin of the blaze.
Police officers also responded to the scene, to document the incident.
Shaun A. Pennington and W. Bostwick also contributed to this report.

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March 22 is the start for Red Cross classes, which will continue at Magens Bay Saturdays through April 26.
The Water Safety Instructor Course will be taught from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturdays. Cost is $150.
Adult Learn to Swim classes are 8 to 9 a.m. Saturdays. Cost is $50. Children's Learn to Swim classes are 9 to 10 a.m. Saturdays. Cost is $50.
For more information about either course, call the headquarters at 774-0375 or Gayle Deller at 774-0352.

March 22 is the start for Red Cross classes, which will continue at St. Thomas' Magens Bay Saturdays through April 26.
The Water Safety Instructor Course will be taught from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturdays. Cost is $150.
Adult Learn to Swim classes are 8 to 9 a.m. Saturdays. Cost is $50. Children's Learn to Swim classes are 9 to 10 a.m. Saturdays. Cost is $50.
For more information about either course, call the headquarters at 774-0375 or Gayle Deller at 774-0352.

March 14, 2003 – Sens. Raymond "Usie" Richards and Douglas E. Canton Jr. exchanged accusations earlier this week over Canton's stewardship as chair of the Senate Health and Hospitals Committee, particularly with regard to the hospital in their home district.
Richards sent a letter to Canton on Tuesday — copying it to the news media — criticizing Canton's handling of the oversight powers of the committee and urging that he call a hearing to address the "numerous crises plaguing Juan F. Luis Hospital."
There is a "clear need for some type of intervention in the operations" of the hospital and for an investigation into the "high level of mismanagement and corruption" there, Richards said.
He said areas with particular problems include the hemodialysis unit, dietary unit, operating room, accounts receivable, cash advances to employees, more than $10 million in contracts and a medical staff that has issued votes of no confidence in the immediate past chief executive officer, past medical director and current board of directors.
"I am not satisfied, nor will I sit idly while you ignore such flagrant malfeasance and make light of this current state of emergency," Richards wrote.
Canton replied Tuesday evening in a letter to Richards stating that he is aware of the problems Richards cited and noting that the two of them had already discussed the issues. He also told Richards that he was "surprised" to receive the correspondence and at its "tenor and tone."
The committee is scheduled to hold its first meeting on April 7, when the focus will be on medical licensure for health professionals, Canton said. It is to meet again April 14 on St. Croix to address dialysis care and the establishment of a cancer registry, he said.
Richards in his letter also criticized Canton's leadership of the committee in the 24th Legislature. Canton called about 16 meetings, out of which only two bills became law — and they "served solely as buffers for the continued decline of the quality of health care available to St. Croix residents," Richards charged.
The hearings on matters other than the two bills, Richards said, included testimony on issues that "to date have served no useful purpose in improving the quality, quantity, availability, accessibility, continuity nor reduction of the cost of health-care services."
Canton told the Source that Richards was playing a "numbers game" and that the letter was "clearly designed to be confrontational."
In his response letter, Canton stated his belief that "my commitment to improving health care in the territory is without question."
Richards urged a "thorough investigative hearing" on conditions at the St. Croix hospital. However, Canton said a single meeting to discuss all of the issues on Richards' list would not be in the public's best interests. Instead, he said, the various matters of concern should be addressed individually and comprehensively.
In his letter, Canton said he understood the zeal exhibited by Richards "as a health planner by education and training, and as a freshman senator." But he said that Richards' letter "flies in the face of the spirit of cooperation."

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Alexander Anthony Farrelly
Fourth-Elected Governor
Virgin Islands of the United States of America
December 29, 1923 –– September 10, 2002
" God is the author; men are only the players. These grand pieces, which are played upon the earth, have been composed in heaven." Balzac —
On behalf of the family, friends and loved ones of
Governor Alexander A. Farrelly,
I would like to thank Governor Charles W. Turnbull, PhD., and the people of the United States Virgin Islands who expressed their outpouring of love, sympathy and support to us in our time of grief.
Alexander Farrelly’s love for his home and people will long be reflected in the many positive things he accomplished during his lifetime here on earth.
Your prayers, letters, phone calls and inquiries were deeply appreciated.
Thank you Virgin Islanders.
Joan Harrigan-Farrelly