March 7, 2003 – Parents and guardians of students attending Lockhart Elementary School are advised that the Parent Teacher Association meeting for the month of March will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 19, in the school's cafeteria.
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DELEGATE PUSHES AGAIN FOR LIFT OF MEDICAID CAP
March 7, 2003 – As she has in previous sessions of Congress, Delegate Donna M. Christensen made a case for removing the federal Medicaid cap in place for the insular territories when she addressed her U.S. House of Representatives colleagues on Thursday.
Christensen, who is a physician, said the Virgin Islands and other territories can no longer afford to bear the cost of a cap that greatly restricts the availability of Medicaid funding.
Brian Modeste, an aide to Christensen, said that the federal government caps its Medicaid funding for the Virgin Islands at around $6 million.
Christensen said that because of the cap, the territory spends about one-fifth of what the states do on average per patient to care for Medicaid recipients. The two V.I. hospitals are struggling because they cannot collect full payments for services to Medicaid patients, she said.
About 60 percent of the patients admitted to the two hospitals have incomes below the poverty level, she said, and only about one-third of those patients qualify for Medicaid. "The rest of the patients have no coverage whatsoever," she said.
Christensen also asked her colleagues to allow the territory's hospitals to collect Disproportionate Share Payments. Modeste said these are payments made under the Medicaid program to jurisdictions that have a higher than average share of very poor people. He said the availability of such payments would bring another $3 million per year into the territory.
Medicaid is a jointly funded, federal/state health insurance program for low-income aged, blind and disabled people as well as anyone else eligible to receive federally assisted income payments.
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Christensen, who is a physician, said the Virgin Islands and other territories can no longer afford to bear the cost of a cap that greatly restricts the availability of Medicaid funding.
Brian Modeste, an aide to Christensen, said that the federal government caps its Medicaid funding for the Virgin Islands at around $6 million.
Christensen said that because of the cap, the territory spends about one-fifth of what the states do on average per patient to care for Medicaid recipients. The two V.I. hospitals are struggling because they cannot collect full payments for services to Medicaid patients, she said.
About 60 percent of the patients admitted to the two hospitals have incomes below the poverty level, she said, and only about one-third of those patients qualify for Medicaid. "The rest of the patients have no coverage whatsoever," she said.
Christensen also asked her colleagues to allow the territory's hospitals to collect Disproportionate Share Payments. Modeste said these are payments made under the Medicaid program to jurisdictions that have a higher than average share of very poor people. He said the availability of such payments would bring another $3 million per year into the territory.
Medicaid is a jointly funded, federal/state health insurance program for low-income aged, blind and disabled people as well as anyone else eligible to receive federally assisted income payments.
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GOMEZ SCHOOL CELEBRATES READING
March 7, 2003 – The Joseph Gomez Elementary School will host the second series of Raising Readers Workshops for second grade students and their parents at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday, March 11 and 12.
Parents are encouraged to attend the workshops according to the following schedule:
Tuesday, March 11 – Ms. Hodge, Ms. Cornelius and Ms. Frett's classes
Wednesday, March 12 – Ms. Lewis and Ms Savage's classes
The Raising Readers Workshops are sponsored in part by a grant from the Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands.
For more information contact the school at 775-2354.
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Parents are encouraged to attend the workshops according to the following schedule:
Tuesday, March 11 – Ms. Hodge, Ms. Cornelius and Ms. Frett's classes
Wednesday, March 12 – Ms. Lewis and Ms Savage's classes
The Raising Readers Workshops are sponsored in part by a grant from the Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands.
For more information contact the school at 775-2354.
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 v… click A>.
DELEGATE PUSHES AGAIN FOR LIFT OF MEDICAID CAP
March 7, 2003 – As she has in previous sessions of Congress, Delegate Donna M. Christensen made a case for removing the federal Medicaid cap in place for the insular territories when she addressed her U.S. House of Representatives colleagues on Thursday.
Christensen, who is a physician, said the Virgin Islands and other territories can no longer afford to bear the cost of a cap that greatly restricts the availability of Medicaid funding.
Brian Modeste, an aide to Christensen, said that the federal government caps its Medicaid funding for the Virgin Islands at around $6 million.
Christensen said that because of the cap, the territory spends about one-fifth of what the states do on average per patient to care for Medicaid recipients. The two V.I. hospitals are struggling because they cannot collect full payments for services to Medicaid patients, she said.
About 60 percent of the patients admitted to the two hospitals have incomes below the poverty level, she said, and only about one-third of those patients qualify for Medicaid. "The rest of the patients have no coverage whatsoever," she said.
Christensen also asked her colleagues to allow the territory's hospitals to collect Disproportionate Share Payments. Modeste said these are payments made under the Medicaid program to jurisdictions that have a higher than average share of very poor people. He said the availability of such payments would bring another $3 million per year into the territory.
Medicaid is a jointly funded, federal/state health insurance program for low-income aged, blind and disabled people as well as anyone else eligible to receive federally assisted income payments.
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.
Christensen, who is a physician, said the Virgin Islands and other territories can no longer afford to bear the cost of a cap that greatly restricts the availability of Medicaid funding.
Brian Modeste, an aide to Christensen, said that the federal government caps its Medicaid funding for the Virgin Islands at around $6 million.
Christensen said that because of the cap, the territory spends about one-fifth of what the states do on average per patient to care for Medicaid recipients. The two V.I. hospitals are struggling because they cannot collect full payments for services to Medicaid patients, she said.
About 60 percent of the patients admitted to the two hospitals have incomes below the poverty level, she said, and only about one-third of those patients qualify for Medicaid. "The rest of the patients have no coverage whatsoever," she said.
Christensen also asked her colleagues to allow the territory's hospitals to collect Disproportionate Share Payments. Modeste said these are payments made under the Medicaid program to jurisdictions that have a higher than average share of very poor people. He said the availability of such payments would bring another $3 million per year into the territory.
Medicaid is a jointly funded, federal/state health insurance program for low-income aged, blind and disabled people as well as anyone else eligible to receive federally assisted income payments.
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AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM RESUMES AT LOCKHART
March 7, 2003 – Parents and guardians of students attending the Lockhart Elementary School are advised that the After School Program will resume effective Monday, March 10.
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SIGN UP BY TUESDAY TO TESTIFY AT VLT HEARING
March 7, 2003 – Public hearings by the Senate Committee of the Whole on the territory's video lottery operations are set for Thursday on St. Croix and next Friday on St. Thomas, both beginning at 6 p.m.
Anyone wishing to testify must indicate the desire to do so in advance. Call Maxine Bowry at 712-2264 concerning the St. Croix hearing, or Ava Penn at 693-3506 regarding the St. Thomas one. The deadline to schedule testimony is 5 p.m. Tuesday, according to a release from the Legislature's Public Affairs Office.
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Anyone wishing to testify must indicate the desire to do so in advance. Call Maxine Bowry at 712-2264 concerning the St. Croix hearing, or Ava Penn at 693-3506 regarding the St. Thomas one. The deadline to schedule testimony is 5 p.m. Tuesday, according to a release from the Legislature's Public Affairs Office.
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SIGN UP BY TUESDAY TO TESTIFY AT VLT HEARING
March 7, 2003 – Public hearings by the Senate Committee of the Whole on the territory's video lottery operations are set for Thursday on St. Croix and next Friday on St. Thomas, both beginning at 6 p.m.
Anyone wishing to testify must indicate the desire to do so in advance. Call Maxine Bowry at 712-2264 concerning the St. Croix hearing, or Ava Penn at 693-3506 regarding the St. Thomas one. The deadline to schedule testimony is 5 p.m. Tuesday, according to a release from the Legislature's Public Affairs Office.
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Anyone wishing to testify must indicate the desire to do so in advance. Call Maxine Bowry at 712-2264 concerning the St. Croix hearing, or Ava Penn at 693-3506 regarding the St. Thomas one. The deadline to schedule testimony is 5 p.m. Tuesday, according to a release from the Legislature's Public Affairs Office.
Publisher's note : Like the St. John 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.
SIGN UP BY TUESDAY TO TESTIFY AT VLT HEARING
March 7, 2003 – Public hearings by the Senate Committee of the Whole on the territory's video lottery operations are set for Thursday on St. Croix and next Friday on St. Thomas, both beginning at 6 p.m.
Anyone wishing to testify must indicate the desire to do so in advance. Call Maxine Bowry at 712-2264 concerning the St. Croix hearing, or Ava Penn at 693-3506 regarding the St. Thomas one. The deadline to schedule testimony is 5 p.m. Tuesday, according to a release from the Legislature's Public Affairs Office.
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.
Anyone wishing to testify must indicate the desire to do so in advance. Call Maxine Bowry at 712-2264 concerning the St. Croix hearing, or Ava Penn at 693-3506 regarding the St. Thomas one. The deadline to schedule testimony is 5 p.m. Tuesday, according to a release from the Legislature's Public Affairs Office.
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LOTTERY INDUSTRY EYEING THE V.I. WITH CONCERN
March 6, 2003 – Interviews and e-mail exchanges with prominent people in the lottery industry from Washington, D.C., to Australia find them not only aware of but also "concerned" across the board about the secrecy with which the V.I. Lottery handles its finances.
Charles Strutt is the director of the Multi-State Lottery Association, the Iowa-based organization known as MUSL that promotes the big-ticket Powerball game, a recent addition to the lottery offerings in the Virgin Islands. He visited the territory last year when Powerball was introduced.
Asked by the Source to provide sales figures for the territory, Strutt declined to do so. But he did call the V.I. Lottery headquarters from his mainland office to encourage Virgin Islands officials to disclose the Powerball sales volume, which is a matter of public record everywhere else the game is played.
Strutt subsequently told the Source that the V.I. authorities had "indicated that they do not have any issues with releasing sales information."
A spokesman for a mainland lottery trade publication, who asked that it not be identified, said personnel there have been "following with concern the events in the USVI" having to do with secrecy in lottery operations. But he added that the publication has no intention of writing about the subject, as "you can appreciate that as a trade journal we have to be very cautious in approaching situations like this."
That trade paper spokesman suggested that an Australian publication, Lottery Insider, might react differently to queries. It did.
"We are talking with some lottery agents in the V.I.," its editor, Ernie O'Keefe, wrote in an e-mail exchange. "We have also scheduled an interview with one of the lawmakers who is very critical of the way the lottery has been operating."
The Australian publication editor also volunteered that he had been following reports on the matter published by the Source. (See "V.I. Lottery unique in not disclosing finances".)
Following up on Strutt's suggestion that contact be made directly either with V.I. Lottery officials or with the governor's legal counsel, Paul Gimenez, the Source this week did just that.
Gimenez e-mailed back that "I will contact the lottery and ask that they respond to your inquiry."
But despite the interventions of the Powerball executive and the Government House lawyer, no response was forthcoming from the V.I. Lottery.
If total Powerball sales or even all V.I. Lottery sales are released publicly, this will be only part of the story. The other critical question is: How much of the gross sales goes into the territory's General Fund?
The standard for state lottery operations on the mainland is not only that finances are revealed in detail, but that on average 35 percent of lottery gross proceeds go to the public treasury. For Powerball, the average is 31 percent; for the Virgin Islands, apparently it is about 2.6 percent.(See "V.I. Powerball percentage far below U.S. average".)
Sen. Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg chairs the Senate Finance Committee, which is undertaking an audit of the V.I. Lottery When he and a member of the Legislature's post audit staff went to the lottery offices on St Thomas last week seeking to examine financial records, they were turned away on orders of Gimenez and Attorney General Iver Stridiron.
This week, Stridiron said the Finance Committee does have authority to audit the V.I. Lottery but the problem was that the senator had not property notified lottery officials of his wish to examine the records.
Also this week, Donastorg in letters to Stridiron and Gov. Charles W. Turnbull took issue with the definition of "gross revenues" that he said appears in the government's contract with Caribbean Lotto Inc. He said the contract provides for the government to receive 10 percent of gross sales proceeds "after deducting the cost of free tickets issued as a part of the lottery games and the commissions retained by the selling agents."
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Charles Strutt is the director of the Multi-State Lottery Association, the Iowa-based organization known as MUSL that promotes the big-ticket Powerball game, a recent addition to the lottery offerings in the Virgin Islands. He visited the territory last year when Powerball was introduced.
Asked by the Source to provide sales figures for the territory, Strutt declined to do so. But he did call the V.I. Lottery headquarters from his mainland office to encourage Virgin Islands officials to disclose the Powerball sales volume, which is a matter of public record everywhere else the game is played.
Strutt subsequently told the Source that the V.I. authorities had "indicated that they do not have any issues with releasing sales information."
A spokesman for a mainland lottery trade publication, who asked that it not be identified, said personnel there have been "following with concern the events in the USVI" having to do with secrecy in lottery operations. But he added that the publication has no intention of writing about the subject, as "you can appreciate that as a trade journal we have to be very cautious in approaching situations like this."
That trade paper spokesman suggested that an Australian publication, Lottery Insider, might react differently to queries. It did.
"We are talking with some lottery agents in the V.I.," its editor, Ernie O'Keefe, wrote in an e-mail exchange. "We have also scheduled an interview with one of the lawmakers who is very critical of the way the lottery has been operating."
The Australian publication editor also volunteered that he had been following reports on the matter published by the Source. (See "V.I. Lottery unique in not disclosing finances".)
Following up on Strutt's suggestion that contact be made directly either with V.I. Lottery officials or with the governor's legal counsel, Paul Gimenez, the Source this week did just that.
Gimenez e-mailed back that "I will contact the lottery and ask that they respond to your inquiry."
But despite the interventions of the Powerball executive and the Government House lawyer, no response was forthcoming from the V.I. Lottery.
If total Powerball sales or even all V.I. Lottery sales are released publicly, this will be only part of the story. The other critical question is: How much of the gross sales goes into the territory's General Fund?
The standard for state lottery operations on the mainland is not only that finances are revealed in detail, but that on average 35 percent of lottery gross proceeds go to the public treasury. For Powerball, the average is 31 percent; for the Virgin Islands, apparently it is about 2.6 percent.(See "V.I. Powerball percentage far below U.S. average".)
Sen. Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg chairs the Senate Finance Committee, which is undertaking an audit of the V.I. Lottery When he and a member of the Legislature's post audit staff went to the lottery offices on St Thomas last week seeking to examine financial records, they were turned away on orders of Gimenez and Attorney General Iver Stridiron.
This week, Stridiron said the Finance Committee does have authority to audit the V.I. Lottery but the problem was that the senator had not property notified lottery officials of his wish to examine the records.
Also this week, Donastorg in letters to Stridiron and Gov. Charles W. Turnbull took issue with the definition of "gross revenues" that he said appears in the government's contract with Caribbean Lotto Inc. He said the contract provides for the government to receive 10 percent of gross sales proceeds "after deducting the cost of free tickets issued as a part of the lottery games and the commissions retained by the selling agents."
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.
COOL ENTERTAINMENT COMING TO ST. THOMAS
March 6, 2003 – In a first for the Virgin Islands, a figure skating ice show is coming to St. Thomas on March 21-23 at the Mark C. Marin Center at Antilles School.
"It's history making for the Virgin Islands," promoter Angel Ventura said.
The two-hour "Paradise on Ice" revue is produced by Rosslyn Ice Shows of Royal Palm Beach, Florida.
Ventura, who operates Quality Family Entertainment, said the list of skaters who will perform includes 2002 Olympic bronze medallist, 2001 U.S. national champion and current U.S. silver medallist Tim Goebel. (For more background on this 22-year-old skating sensation, visit the official Timothy Goebel Web site.)
Ventura also listed U.S. skaters Christopher Hendricks and Cindy Davis and Russian skater Nadia Kova-Sharp as featured performers in the show.
Additional skaters, he said, will include Michelle Mare Franchville, Beth Brooker Blankenship, Brandy-Lyn Seabol, Jessica Lillian Ferguson, Julie Christine Vosters, Kelly Pauline Laughlin, Laurie Welch-Heath, Rene Besana Casaysay and Robb Ness. And the revue also includes championship juggler on ice Tommy Curtain, he said..
Ventura said he first though of bringing in snow for a skiing exhibition, but that proved too difficult. He surfed further on the Internet and discovered ice figure skating.
The major challenge comes in turning the Marin Center into an ice skating rink. Ventura said that a portable rink of 60 by 68 feet will be placed over the floor, and Bumble's Ice on St. Thomas will deliver 10,000 pounds of ice cubes — "without the holes."
The ice will be wet down and chilled, and in 30 to 36 hours, the floor will be fit for ice skating, Ventura said.
He suggested that people attending the shows wear sweaters because the Marin Center will be on the chilly side.
There will be shows at 8 p.m. on March 21, 4 and 8 p.m. on March 22, and 2 p.m. on March 23. Tickets are $10 for children and $20 for adults general admission, $30 for preferred seating, and $50 for front-row seats.
Ticket outlets are both Modern Music shops, Hemingway's Book Shop, all Sunrise Pharmacies, and V.I. Bridal and Tuxedo on St. Thomas; and St. John Drug Center and Marina Market on St. John.
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"It's history making for the Virgin Islands," promoter Angel Ventura said.
The two-hour "Paradise on Ice" revue is produced by Rosslyn Ice Shows of Royal Palm Beach, Florida.
Ventura, who operates Quality Family Entertainment, said the list of skaters who will perform includes 2002 Olympic bronze medallist, 2001 U.S. national champion and current U.S. silver medallist Tim Goebel. (For more background on this 22-year-old skating sensation, visit the official Timothy Goebel Web site.)
Ventura also listed U.S. skaters Christopher Hendricks and Cindy Davis and Russian skater Nadia Kova-Sharp as featured performers in the show.
Additional skaters, he said, will include Michelle Mare Franchville, Beth Brooker Blankenship, Brandy-Lyn Seabol, Jessica Lillian Ferguson, Julie Christine Vosters, Kelly Pauline Laughlin, Laurie Welch-Heath, Rene Besana Casaysay and Robb Ness. And the revue also includes championship juggler on ice Tommy Curtain, he said..
Ventura said he first though of bringing in snow for a skiing exhibition, but that proved too difficult. He surfed further on the Internet and discovered ice figure skating.
The major challenge comes in turning the Marin Center into an ice skating rink. Ventura said that a portable rink of 60 by 68 feet will be placed over the floor, and Bumble's Ice on St. Thomas will deliver 10,000 pounds of ice cubes — "without the holes."
The ice will be wet down and chilled, and in 30 to 36 hours, the floor will be fit for ice skating, Ventura said.
He suggested that people attending the shows wear sweaters because the Marin Center will be on the chilly side.
There will be shows at 8 p.m. on March 21, 4 and 8 p.m. on March 22, and 2 p.m. on March 23. Tickets are $10 for children and $20 for adults general admission, $30 for preferred seating, and $50 for front-row seats.
Ticket outlets are both Modern Music shops, Hemingway's Book Shop, all Sunrise Pharmacies, and V.I. Bridal and Tuxedo on St. Thomas; and St. John Drug Center and Marina Market on St. John.
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.
