Some government retirees "may experience a slight delay" in receiving their July 15 annuity checks, both by mail and by direct deposit, a GERS official said Thursday.
The Government Employees Retirement System and the Finance Department "experienced some technical problems while preparing the annual increments for the retirees' annuity payroll," acting GERS administrator Willis Todmann said in a press release.

Some government retirees "may experience a slight delay" in receiving their July 15 annuity checks, both by mail and by direct deposit, a GERS official said Thursday.
The Government Employees Retirement System and the Finance Department "experienced some technical problems while preparing the annual increments for the retirees' annuity payroll," acting GERS administrator Willis Todmann said in a press release.

Sebastian Junger's best-selling book, "The Perfect Storm," has not, alas, made a fortunate transition to cinema. In fact, the most charitable thing critics have called it is "the perfect bore."
Now, this is a shame, as the book had all the elements of a bang-up movie – heroes, pathos or, perhaps, bathos, and a really good story where you are pulling for everybody.
It all starts in 1991 when Hurricane Grace, a Category 5, collides with a Canadian low pressure system and a cold front off the New England coast, creating the "storm of the century," an unbelievable "Perfect Storm" with waves 10 stories high and winds of 120 mph. These same conditions couldn't merge again for another hundred years, according to the meteorologists.
Nobody is carping about the action of the ocean; it's the inaction of the cast that's at issue. The first half of the movie drags along as the crew of the fated Andrea Gail, a commercial fishing boat off Gloucester, Mass., gets assembled for a trip which, according to reports, we already are told is probably not a good idea.
The boat is under the command of Capt. Billy Tyne (George Clooney). The Andrea Gail's previous trips haven't been successful, especially when compared with those of her sister ship, the Hannah Borden, captained by Linda Greenlaw (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio). It won't come as a surprise that the Gail doesn't make it. Nobody every finds out what really happened, in the book or the movie, but one thing's for sure. She sunk.
On the brighter side, if that's how it should be said, the storm and rescue scenes in the two-hour movie's second hour are said to be incredible. Incredibly good, that is. The book recounts in heart-stopping detail the perilous rescue mission in which the rescue crew loses one of its own members, as they, themselves, have to be rescued. It's great reading, and if you can stick around for the last half of the movie, apparently a great rescue on the screen.
Directed by Wolfgang Peterson.
Rated PG-13.
Playing at Cinema One.

Sebastian Junger's best-selling book, "The Perfect Storm," has not, alas, made a fortunate transition to cinema. In fact, the most charitable thing critics have called it is "the perfect bore."
Now, this is a shame, as the book had all the elements of a bang-up movie – heroes, pathos or, perhaps, bathos, and a really good story where you are pulling for everybody.
It all starts in 1991 when Hurricane Grace, a Category 5, collides with a Canadian low pressure system and a cold front off the New England coast, creating the "storm of the century," an unbelievable "Perfect Storm" with waves 10 stories high and winds of 120 mph. These same conditions couldn't merge again for another hundred years, according to the meteorologists.
Nobody is carping about the action of the ocean; it's the inaction of the cast that's at issue. The first half of the movie drags along as the crew of the fated Andrea Gail, a commercial fishing boat off Gloucester, Mass., gets assembled for a trip which, according to reports, we already are told is probably not a good idea.
The boat is under the command of Capt. Billy Tyne (George Clooney). The Andrea Gail's previous trips haven't been successful, especially when compared with those of her sister ship, the Hannah Borden, captained by Linda Greenlaw (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio). It won't come as a surprise that the Gail doesn't make it. Nobody every finds out what really happened, in the book or the movie, but one thing's for sure. She sunk.
On the brighter side, if that's how it should be said, the storm and rescue scenes in the two-hour movie's second hour are said to be incredible. Incredibly good, that is. The book recounts in heart-stopping detail the perilous rescue mission in which the rescue crew loses one of its own members, as they, themselves, have to be rescued. It's great reading, and if you can stick around for the last half of the movie, apparently a great rescue on the screen.
Directed by Wolfgang Peterson. Rated PG-13.
Playing at Diamond Cinemas.

Sebastian Junger's best-selling book, "The Perfect Storm," has not, alas, made a fortunate transition to cinema. In fact, the most charitable thing critics have called it is "the perfect bore."
Now, this is a shame, as the book had all the elements of a bang-up movie – heroes, pathos or, perhaps, bathos, and a really good story where you are pulling for everybody.
It all starts in 1991 when Hurricane Grace, a Category 5, collides with a Canadian low pressure system and a cold front off the New England coast, creating the "storm of the century," an unbelievable "Perfect Storm" with waves 10 stories high and winds of 120 mph. These same conditions couldn't merge again for another hundred years, according to the meteorologists.
Nobody is carping about the action of the ocean; it's the inaction of the cast that's at issue. The first half of the movie drags along as the crew of the fated Andrea Gail, a commercial fishing boat off Gloucester, Mass., gets assembled for a trip which, according to reports, we already are told is probably not a good idea.
The boat is under the command of Capt. Billy Tyne (George Clooney). The Andrea Gail's previous trips haven't been successful, especially when compared with those of her sister ship, the Hannah Borden, captained by Linda Greenlaw (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio). It won't come as a surprise that the Gail doesn't make it. Nobody every finds out what really happened, in the book or the movie, but one thing's for sure. She sunk.
On the brighter side, if that's how it should be said, the storm and rescue scenes in the two-hour movie's second hour are said to be incredible. Incredibly good, that is. The book recounts in heart-stopping detail the perilous rescue mission in which the rescue crew loses one of its own members, as they, themselves, have to be rescued. It's great reading, and if you can stick around for the last half of the movie, apparently a great rescue on the screen.
Directed by Wolfgang Peterson.
Playing at Cinema One.

The sale of the old Yacht Haven Hotel and Marina at Long Bay, St. Thomas, is set to close next week, according to paperwork filed with the Coastal Zone Management commission, but it could be delayed.
The purchase agreement was actually signed April 19, 2000.
The current owners filed July 3 to assign the existing CZM major permit to something called Long Bay Partners, LLC, described as a wholly owned subsidiary of PRM Realty Group, LLC, which is to purchase the fastland at the site.
Information on both companies is sparse. Although the request for the transfer of assignment of the permit stated that Long Bay Partners is authorized and licensed to do business in the Virgin Islands, neither the Corporate Division of the Lieutenant Governor's Office nor Licensing and Consumer Affairs had any paperwork on the company. Nor was there any for PRM Realty.
According to an informed source, at least one partner in PRM was previously associated with another business on St. Thomas. Peter Morris was a partner in VMS, a group that once owned what is now Marriott Frenchman's Reef.
Long Bay Partners is actually an Illinois limited liability company, according to the request for the permit transfer. It was organized Oct. 29, 1999, and two managing officers are listed in the file – Robert W. Harte and Calvin D. Denison.
A Malaysian investor, Tan Kay Hock, purchased the property after it was heavily damaged by Hurricane Marilyn in September 1995 and the hotel had sat idle for years. His plans for a mega-development included expanding the marina from its existing 140 slips to 750, building a new 350-room hotel and creating an "Asian Village" of shops and restaurants. After he met with opposition, he scaled back somewhat but failed to win enough support to continue the project. Last summer he announced plans to sell.
The asking price was $8.5 million, but the general feeling in the industry was that it would go for much less. The paperwork at CZM does not include the sale price.
Ownership in the property is now divided among several related companies: Mega Holdings Inc., Safe Haven Development Inc., Safe Haven Marina Inc., Equity Holdings Inc. and Land Holdings (St. Thomas) Ltd.
According to the request for transfer of the CZM permit, the closing of the sale is scheduled for July 18. However, there have been some reports that it might be postponed because some details need to be resolved.

The territory’s leading business group will seek to have the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals decision upholding the territory’s Wrongful Discharge Act reheard.
John deJongh Jr., president of the St. Thomas-St. John Chamber of Commerce, said that the organization’s executive committee decided Tuesday to ask the full 3rd Circuit reevaluate a decision made by a three-judge panel June 30.
Whether the 3rd Circuit grants the petition from the chamber, the St. Thomas-St. John Hotel Association and the St. Croix Hotel and Tourism Association for a rehearing or not, deJongh said employers will approach local legislators to have the WDA massaged. Under the V.I.’s labor law, there are nine reasons why an employer can justifiably terminate an employee. Those include the employee:
– Engaging in conflicting business.
– Engaging in insolent or offensive conduct.
– Using intoxicants or controlled substances that affect the employee's work.
– Disobeying reasonable rules or instructions.
– Being negligent, incompetent, inefficient, dishonest, or unable to work with others.
– Regardless of the employee's behavior, economic hardship of the employer.
According to the V.I. Code, any employees discharged for any other reasons are considered to have been wrongfully discharged.
DeJongh said employers don’t have a problem with what is contained in the WDA. Rather, he said, the problem is with "what’s missing and the administrative aspects" of the law.
"The act doesn’t allow for a probation period for employees and it doesn’t allow for downsizing," deJongh said. "That’s why you’ve seen out-sourcing and contracts become more popular" with employers.
A three-judge panel in the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals overturned V.I. District Court Judge Thomas Moore’s February injunction against the V.I. Labor Department from hearing any more wrongful discharge cases. Moore ruled that the WDA is "directly" preempted by the federal National Labor Relations Act "because it requires union involvement before any contractual modification to the WDA's requirements."
In a second and separate analysis, Moore said the WDA “violates national labor policy by interfering with the free play of economic forces in the private labor market which Congress has intentionally left unregulated."
Charles Engeman, attorney for the employers, said a decision on the petition for a rehearing could come quickly or not. The petition will be submitted to all 14 of the 3rd Circuit judges on Friday. After review, a majority of the judges must agree to rehear the case or the decision to overturn Moore’s decision will stand.
If the judges decide to rehear the case, they have the choice of using information filed during initial proceedings last year or hearing arguments with or without additional briefs being filed.
"It could be as quickly as a couple of weeks or as long as several months" for the court to decide, Engeman said. "I would assume it would not take that long."
Meanwhile, Ralph Mandrew, president of the V.I. Workers Union, decried employers’ efforts to have the WDA repealed. He called the legislation the "Magna Carta" of employees in the territory. He said that before the act, non-unionized employees had no recourse if they thought they had been unjustly fired from their jobs.
"It freed men and women from the dictates of employers," Mandrew said.
But deJongh said the effort to have the 3rd Circuit rehear the case doesn’t mean employers want to do away with the WDA completely. He also said it won’t preclude employers from approaching legislators for some amendments to the law.
"Even if it’s not ultimately heard, we have to sit down with the legislators," he said. "There is no way we’re going to get an act that only is going to benefit employers. We want something in the middle."

While Delegate to Congress Donna Christian Christensen isn’t on the ground at the International AIDS Conference in Durban, South Africa, she will be there Thursday thanks to technology.
Christensen, chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus Health Braintrust and a family physician, will join officials from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and other experts at the conference in an online roundtable discussion on Thursday to discuss the impact of the global AIDS epidemic on the United States, specifically in communities of color.
The Internet audiocast discussion will start at 12:30 p.m. and be broadcast on Webmd.com and focus on prevention strategies to curb the further spread of the disease.
Christensen, who was invited by Health Secretary Donna Shalala and U.S. Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher to speak at the conference because of her leadership in Congress on the impact of HIV/AIDS on communities of color, was unable to attend due to demands in Washington and the territory.
"It is especially fitting that this year's conference is being held in the one country that is being devastated at an enormous rate by the HIV/AIDS epidemic…" Christensen said, adding that last month she led a CBC discussion with South African President Mbeki on the pandemic and its effect the nation.
As chairwoman of the CBC’s Health Braintrust, Christensen oversees the implementation of national policy on health issues affecting communities of color, particularly to eliminate disparities in health care delivery. Christensen has begun to put into action plans to improve the territory's health care infrastructure in conjunction with HHS and local health officials.
Her efforts include programs to address the threatening AIDS epidemic in the Virgin Islands and throughout the Caribbean. Christensen will travel around the Caribbean with Sandy Thurman, director of National AIDS Policy, later this year to reinforce the region's need for federal assistance in addressing the health crisis.

St. Thomas sailor Thomas Barrows, 12, scored a first-place finish in the 5th race of the Optimist European Championships on Wednesday. This showing moves the young sailor up to 6th place overall among 180 competitors sailing in the boys' division.
Youth sailors from around the world are gathered at Lake Garda, Italy, for the week-long Optimist competition, which ends Friday. The Virgin Islands is also being represented by Caroline "Callie" Burks of St. John in the girls' division.
Twelve races were scheduled for the boys' division.
Shep Barrows, Thomas's father, said they were excited about Thomas's 18th place finish in the first race. Unfortunately, that was followed by a 61st. In races 3 and 4, Thomas finished 6th and 4th, respectively. The first-place finish Wednesday was "beyond all our expectations," Shep Barrows said. "I just hope Thomas can stay near the top in the rest of the races. A top 10 finish in the Europeans would be a fantastic result."
Cullen Shaughnessy of the USA is presently in first overall. Cullen is well known to Virgin Island Optimist sailors as the 1998 and 1999 champion of the Scotia Bank Caribbean Optimist Regatta.
The Optimist is an 8-foot pram sailed by youths. Upon turning 16, a competitor "ages out" of the class. More than 250 boys and girls are competing in the European Championship.

St. Thomas sailor Thomas Barrows, 12, scored a first-place finish in the 5th race of the Optimist European Championships on Wednesday. This showing moves the young sailor up to 6th place overall among 180 competitors sailing in the boys' division.
Youth sailors from around the world are gathered at Lake Garda, Italy, for the week-long Optimist competition, which ends Friday. The Virgin Islands is also being represented by Caroline "Callie" Burks of St. John in the girls' division.
Twelve races were scheduled for the boys' division.
Shep Barrows, Thomas's father, said they were excited about Thomas's 18th place finish in the first race. Unfortunately, that was followed by a 61st. In races 3 and 4, Thomas finished 6th and 4th, respectively. The first-place finish Wednesday was "beyond all our expectations," Shep Barrows said. "I just hope Thomas can stay near the top in the rest of the races. A top 10 finish in the Europeans would be a fantastic result."
Cullen Shaughnessy of the USA is presently in first overall. Cullen is well known to Virgin Island Optimist sailors as the 1998 and 1999 champion of the Scotia Bank Caribbean Optimist Regatta.
The Optimist is an 8-foot pram sailed by youths. Upon turning 16, a competitor "ages out" of the class. More than 250 boys and girls are competing in the European Championship.