Oct. 22, 2002 – The UVI Small Business Development Center will conduct a seminar titled "Landlord-Tenant Horror Stories and How to Avoid Them" on Oct. 29 from 10 a.m. to noon at the UVI-SBDC Training Facility at Nisky Center on St. Thomas, and from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Legislature Conference Room in Cruz Bay.
Discussions will focus on "quiet enjoyment," who the real parties are, where deposits go and why, mold and million dollar lawsuits, asbestos and paint dangers, and what landlords and tenants don't tell.
Admission is $20, with a $5 discount for pre-registration by 3 p.m. Monday. Admission for UVI faculty, staff and students is free, although they must pre-register.
The SBDC is partially funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration. Such funding does not constitute an expressed or implied endorsement of any of the co-sponsors or participants' opinions, products or services.
To pre-register or for more information, call UVI-SBDC at 776-3206.

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.

Oct. 22, 2002 – The UVI Small Business Development Center will conduct its small business seminar titled "Landlord-Tenant Horror Stories and How to Avoid Them" on Oct. 29 from 10 a.m. to noon at the UVI-SBDC Training Facility at Nisky Center, and from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Legislature Conference Room in Cruz Bay, St. John.
Discussions will focus on "quiet enjoyment," who the real parties are, where deposits go and why, mold and million dollar lawsuits, asbestos and paint dangers, and what landlords and tenants don't tell.
Admission is $20, with a $5 discount for pre-registration by 3 p.m. Monday. Admission for UVI faculty, staff and students is free, although they must pre-register.
The SBDC is partially funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration. Such funding does not constitute an expressed or implied endorsement of any of the co-sponsors or participants' opinions, products or services.
To pre-register or for more information, call UVI-SBDC at 776-3206.

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.

Roy Arthur McIntosh, age 68, of Estate Mt. Pleasant, Fredericksted, died Thursday, Oct. 17, at the Gov. Juan F. Luis Hospital. Funeral Services will take place at 12 noon at the Seventh Day Adventist Church. Viewing will begin at 11 a.m. Interment follows at the Kingshill Cemetery.
He is survived by his wife Matilda McIntosh; daughters Cherry, Audrey, June Martin and Jean Schouten; son Ignatius Martin; 12 grandchildren; 2 great grandchildren; sisters Yvonne Allen, Grace Makinde, Edwina Leader, Ruby Simmons-Bequia and Daphine Simmons; brothers Bruce McIntosh, Bruno Simmons, John Simmons, Norris Simmons, Clyde Simmons, Arnold Cato, Utan Noel, Randy McIntosh and Roby McIntosh; other relatives and friends too numerous to mention.

Oct. 21, 2002 – What's there to be blue about? Thursday through Saturday, Pirate Radio presents the 2002 Heineken Sugar Bay Blues Festival at the Wyndham Sugar Bay Beach Resort on St. Thomas to chase your blues away.
Each night begins with the Rev. Billy C. Wirtz, and headliners are Michael Burks, Debbie Davies and Elvin Bishop.
Radio host Doug Lewis, whose show is currently on hiatus, encourages the public to support and attend the festival.
"We highly recommend these shows," Lewis, a.k.a. Assistant Attorney General Douglas Dick, said. "All of these outstanding artists are known to put on a great show, and I have played all of them on the Doug Lewis Show."
Wirtz, who received his clerical title through the mail, describes himself as "James Brown meets Porter Wagoner." His electrifying piano and onstage antics have amused, confused and amazed audiences across the United States.
Guitarist/vocalist Burks, who performs Thursday, combines his remarkable talent with an intense dedication to his craft. Burks is becoming one of the blues world's fastest-rising stars.
Davies is a singer-songwriter-guitarist with a burning passion for the music she loves. Her latest album, "Tales from the Austin Motel," was released in 1999. She performs Friday night.
Bishop has been singing and recording his "rollicking brand of electrified down-home blues" for almost 40 years. His music is described as "a mix of blues roots with contemporary funk and rock flavors spiced with a touch of country and the laid-back feel of his Northern California home." He performs Saturday.
Gates open at 7 p.m. each night and the show begins at 8 with Wirtz, followed by each night's headliner at 9.
Advance tickets are available through Wednesday at Modern Music at Havensight and Keep Left at American Yacht Harbor on St. Thomas. Love City Surf Shack in Cruz Bay carries tickets on St. John.
A three-day pass is $75; Thursday's concert with Michael Burks is $20; Friday's show with Debbie Davies is $30; and Saturday's concert with Elvin Bishop is $40.
The Wyndham Sugar Bay is one of three local hotels offering discounted rates for the festival. The others are Marriott's Frenchman's Reef Beach Resort and Bolongo Bay Beach Club.
For more information, go to the Pirate Radio Web site, or call the Wyndham at 777-7100.

Publisher's note : Like the St. Croix 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.

Oct. 21, 2002 – What's there to be blue about? Thursday through Saturday, Pirate Radio presents the 2002 Heineken Sugar Bay Blues Festival at the Wyndham Sugar Bay Beach Resort to chase your blues away.
Each night begins with the Rev. Billy C. Wirtz, and headliners are Michael Burks, Debbie Davies and Elvin Bishop.
Radio host Doug Lewis, whose show is currently on hiatus, encourages the public to support and attend the festival.
"We highly recommend these shows," Lewis, a.k.a. Assistant Attorney General Douglas Dick, said. "All of these outstanding artists are known to put on a great show, and I have played all of them on the Doug Lewis Show."
Wirtz, who received his clerical title through the mail, describes himself as "James Brown meets Porter Wagoner." His electrifying piano and onstage antics have amused, confused and amazed audiences across the United States.
Guitarist/vocalist Burks, who performs Thursday, combines his remarkable talent with an intense dedication to his craft. Burks is becoming one of the blues world's fastest-rising stars.
Davies is a singer-songwriter-guitarist with a burning passion for the music she loves. Her latest album, "Tales from the Austin Motel," was released in 1999. She performs Friday night.
Bishop has been singing and recording his "rollicking brand of electrified down-home blues" for almost 40 years. His music is described as "a mix of blues roots with contemporary funk and rock flavors spiced with a touch of country and the laid-back feel of his Northern California home." He performs Saturday.
Gates open at 7 p.m. each night and the show begins at 8 with Wirtz, followed by each night's headliner at 9.
Advance tickets are available through Wednesday at Modern Music at Havensight and Keep Left at American Yacht Harbor on St. Thomas. Love City Surf Shack in Cruz Bay carries tickets on St. John.
A three-day pass is $75; Thursday's concert with Michael Burks is $20; Friday's show with Debbie Davies is $30; and Saturday's concert with Elvin Bishop is $40.
The Wyndham Sugar Bay is one of three local hotels offering discounted rates for the festival. The others are Marriott's Frenchman's Reef Beach Resort and Bolongo Bay Beach Club.
For more information, go to the Pirate Radio Web site, or call the Wyndham at 777-7100.

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.

Oct. 21, 2002 – What's there to be blue about? Thursday through Saturday, Pirate Radio presents the 2002 Heineken Sugar Bay Blues Festival at the Wyndham Sugar Bay Beach Resort to chase your blues away.
Each night begins with the Rev. Billy C. Wirtz, and headliners are Michael Burks, Debbie Davies and Elvin Bishop.
Radio host Doug Lewis, whose show is currently on hiatus, encourages the public to support and attend the festival.
"We highly recommend these shows," Lewis, a.k.a. Assistant Attorney General Douglas Dick, said. "All of these outstanding artists are known to put on a great show, and I have played all of them on the Doug Lewis Show."
Wirtz, who received his clerical title through the mail, describes himself as "James Brown meets Porter Wagoner." His electrifying piano and onstage antics have amused, confused and amazed audiences across the United States.
Guitarist/vocalist Burks, who performs Thursday, combines his remarkable talent with an intense dedication to his craft. Burks is becoming one of the blues world's fastest-rising stars.
Davies is a singer-songwriter-guitarist with a burning passion for the music she loves. Her latest album, "Tales from the Austin Motel," was released in 1999. She performs Friday night.
Bishop has been singing and recording his "rollicking brand of electrified down-home blues" for almost 40 years. His music is described as "a mix of blues roots with contemporary funk and rock flavors spiced with a touch of country and the laid-back feel of his Northern California home." He performs Saturday.
Gates open at 7 p.m. each night and the show begins at 8 with Wirtz, followed by each night's headliner at 9.
Advance tickets are available through Wednesday at Modern Music at Havensight and Keep Left at American Yacht Harbor on St. Thomas. Love City Surf Shack in Cruz Bay carries tickets on St. John.
A three-day pass is $75; Thursday's concert with Michael Burks is $20; Friday's show with Debbie Davies is $30; and Saturday's concert with Elvin Bishop is $40.
The Wyndham Sugar Bay is one of three local hotels offering discounted rates for the festival. The others are Marriott's Frenchman's Reef Beach Resort and Bolongo Bay Beach Club.
For more information, go to the Pirate Radio Web site, or call the Wyndham at 777-7100.

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.

Oct. 21. 2002 – Parents of seniors at Ivanna Eudora Kean High School say they may take the Board of Education to court if it does not rescind its new graduation requirements.
Fourteen parents and one student showed up for the monthly Parents Teachers Students Association meeting at the school Monday night. More than four times that many showed up the month before when Gladstone Hazel, PTSA president, invited members of the board to explain why 12th-graders had to complete courses in computer literacy, speech, and developmental reading and writing before being allowed to receive their high school diplomas in May 2003.
On Monday Hazel delivered his message to a faithful core group that shows up monthly, no matter what. William Frett, district schools superintendent, also appeared at the meeting, urging parents to take collective action on behalf of their children.
The Board of Education was also invited to send a representative, but no one appeared.
"The one voice the Department of Education has not heard is the unified voice of parents," Frett said. He said that he wouldn't direct the parents into any given action, that it was up to them to decide what was best.
Frett repeated his concerns that while the Board of Education finally ordered the requirements changed to include the three classes, there were not enough teachers, money or resources to make it happen for a portion of the estimated 600 public high school seniors in the St. Thomas-St. John school district.
Hazel urged the group to act in conjunction with parents from Charlotte Amalie High School and to do it quickly. "Let's act now and don't get crazy later," he said.
The PTSA president said he already has been in contact with a lawyer, in the event the group decides to take the Board of Education to court. He also announced his intention to spread the word about changing graduation requirements this week by making appeals over local radio talk shows.
After the meeting he was asked about a comment by Board of Education member Linda Thomas, who said at a meeting held earlier this month that 80 percent of incoming freshmen at the University of the Virgin Islands, where she teaches, have to take remedial reading and writing courses, even though some of them graduated high school as honor students.
Hazel said he agreed something should be done, but he objected to the way the plan was being implemented into the current school year.
Officials of the board told parents at the last meeting they had first voted to adopt the three classes in 1996 and pressed for implementation in 2001, when the Department of Education persuaded them to waive the requirements and allow the class of 2002 to graduate.
Frett said he would like to see the provision waived again and start preparing students in next year's senior class to meet the requirements now in their junior year.
Greg Allen, 17, sat quietly at the back of the group at the PTSA meeting in the high school library. "I don't think they should have them," he said of the three class requirements. "I think they should drop them and take it up with the ninth grade."
The 12th-grader described himself as a "B" student. Until the new course requirements surfaced a few weeks ago, he said, he thought graduation day would come along uneventfully.
Vincent Matthew, the lone father who showed up at the meeting, said he had similar expectations for his 17-year-old son, Amoise, whom he called a "pretty good" student, now in his senior year. Matthew asked Frett: "If we can't get through to the Board of Education, what will become of our children going to school?"
The superintendent replied, "I don't know."

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.

Oct. 21. 2002 – Parents of seniors at Ivanna Eudora Kean High School say they may take the Board of Education to court if it does not rescind its new graduation requirements.
Fourteen parents and one student showed up for the monthly Parents Teachers Students Association meeting at the school Monday night. More than four times that many showed up the month before when Gladstone Hazel, PTSA president, invited members of the board to explain why 12th-graders had to complete courses in computer literacy, speech, and developmental reading and writing before being allowed to receive their high school diplomas in May 2003.
On Monday Hazel delivered his message to a faithful core group that shows up monthly, no matter what. William Frett, district schools superintendent, also attended, urging parents to take collective action on behalf of their children.
The Board of Education was invited to send a representative, but no one appeared.
"The one voice the Department of Education has not heard is the unified voice of parents," Frett said. He said that he wouldn't direct the parents into any given action, that it was up to them to decide what was best.
Frett repeated his concerns that while the Board of Education finally ordered the requirements changed to include the three classes, there were not enough teachers, money or resources to make it happen for a portion of the estimated 600 public high school seniors in the St. Thomas-St. John school district.
Hazel urged the group to act in conjunction with parents from Charlotte Amalie High School and to do it quickly. "Let's act now and don't get crazy later," he said.
The PTSA president said he already has been in contact with a lawyer in case the group decides to take the Board of Education to court. He also announced his intention to spread the word about changing graduation requirements this week by making appeals over local radio talk shows.
After the meeting he was asked about a comment by Board of Education member Linda Thomas, who said earlier this month that 80 percent of incoming freshmen at the University of the Virgin Islands, where she teaches, have to take remedial reading and writing courses, even though some graduated high school as honor students.
Hazel said he agreed something should be done, but he objected to the way the plan was being implemented into the current school year.
Officials of the board told parents at the last meeting they had first voted to adopt the three classes in 1996 and pressed for implementation in 2001, when the Department of Education persuaded them to waive the requirements and allow the class of 2002 to graduate.
Frett said he would like to see the provision waived again and start preparing students in next year's senior class to meet the requirements now in their junior year.
Greg Allen, 17, sat quietly at the back of the group at the PTSA meeting in the high school library. "I don't think they should have them," he said of the three class requirements. "I think they should drop them and take it up with the ninth grade."
The 12th-grader described himself as a "B" student. Until the new course requirements surfaced a few weeks ago, he said, he thought graduation day would come along uneventfully.
Vincent Matthew, the lone father at the meeting, said he had similar expectations for his 17-year-old son, Amoise, whom he called a "pretty good" student, now in his senior year. Matthew asked Frett: "If we can't get through to the Board of Education, what will become of our children going to school?"
The superintendent replied, "I don't know."

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.

Oct. 21, 2002 – Voters in the Virgin Islands can look forward to a faster check-in, and disabled voters will enjoy greater independence as they cast their ballots on election day, if the top official of the Elections System of the Virgin Islands gets his way on the use of federal funds recently approved to reform voting systems across the United States.
Supervisor of Elections John Abramson Jr. says he'd been studying the provisions of the Help America Vote Act prior to its passage recently by Congress. The act authorizes $3.8 billion to help states and territories modernize voting machines, upgrade voter lists and educate people about how to make their votes count.
How much federal election aid the territory will receive as its local share remains to be seen. Abramson said he expects to find out shortly.
For most of his eight-year term, Abramson has complained of the Elections System of the V.I. being underfunded. The new federal money won't reduce the cost of conducting local elections, he said, but it could help bring certain aspects of the balloting process into the 21st century.
Abramson said on Monday that he is looking forward to getting rid of the ledgers used to match voter signatures for identification purposes. In their place, he would like to install laptop computers that would accept voter registration cards the way store check-out systems process charge cards. With the swipe of a card, the voter's picture pops up on the computer screen, and identification is complete, he said.
Also under the Help America Vote Act, Abramson said, there will be funds to help disabled V.I. voters enjoy the privacy and independence other voters do. "Right now, we provide them with direct assistance," he said. "But under this system, for instance, if I was blind, and I could read Braille, I should be able to go into the booth alone and vote."
Most of all, he said, he would like to use some of the new federal funds to create a voter education campaign, thoroughly instructing voters on procedures, their rights as voters and the use of voting technology.
After spending days reviewing the volumes of text contained in the act, he said, he was pleased to see how advanced the local voting system already is. "Under the law, they want to have a paper trail," he said. "We're the only place in the nation that has had that, because we wanted to have something to verify what was on the cartridges that came from the voting machines."
(Abramson also issued a directive on Monday concerning electioneering on voting days. See "Electioneering policies released for territory".)

Publisher's note : Like the St. Croix 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.

Oct. 21, 2002 – Voters in the Virgin Islands can look forward to a faster check-in, and disabled voters will enjoy greater independence as they cast their ballots on election day, if the top official of the Elections System of the Virgin Islands gets his way on the use of federal funds recently approved to reform voting systems across the United States.
Supervisor of Elections John Abramson Jr. says he'd been studying the provisions of the Help America Vote Act prior to its passage recently by Congress. The act authorizes $3.8 billion to help states and territories modernize voting machines, upgrade voter lists and educate people about how to make their votes count.
How much federal election aid the territory will receive as its local share remains to be seen. Abramson said he expects to find out shortly.
For most of his eight-year term, Abramson has complained of the Elections System of the V.I. being underfunded. The new federal money won't reduce the cost of conducting local elections, he said, but it could help bring certain aspects of the balloting process into the 21st century.
Abramson said on Monday that he is looking forward to getting rid of the ledgers used to match voter signatures for identification purposes. In their place, he would like to install laptop computers that would accept voter registration cards the way store check-out systems process charge cards. With the swipe of a card, the voter's picture pops up on the computer screen, and identification is complete, he said.
Also under the Help America Vote Act, Abramson said, there will be funds to help disabled V.I. voters enjoy the privacy and independence other voters do. "Right now, we provide them with direct assistance," he said. "But under this system, for instance, if I was blind, and I could read Braille, I should be able to go into the booth alone and vote."
Most of all, he said, he would like to use some of the new federal funds to create a voter education campaign, thoroughly instructing voters on procedures, their rights as voters and the use of voting technology.
After spending days reviewing the volumes of text contained in the act, he said, he was pleased to see how advanced the local voting system already is. "Under the law, they want to have a paper trail," he said. "We're the only place in the nation that has had that, because we wanted to have something to verify what was on the cartridges that came from the voting machines."
(Abramson also issued a directive on Monday concerning electioneering on voting days. See "Electioneering policies released for territory".)

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.