Oct. 30, 2001 — Less than two weeks after her nomination was sent to the Senate, the Rules Committee on Monday approved Mavis Matthew to head the Health Department.
The six-month time limit on Matthew serving as acting commissioner expired on Sept. 20. On Oct. 19, Gov. Charles W. Turnbull nominated her to serve as permanent head of the department.
On Monday, senators drilled Matthew for about four hours before approving her nomination on a 6-1 vote and forwarding it to the full Senate. Voting in favor were Sens. Adelbert Bryan, Donald Cole, Carlton Dowe, Almando "Rocky" Liburd, Norma Pickard-Samuel and Celestino A. White Sr. Sen. Alicia "Chucky" Hansen was absent.
Matthew, a pediatrician, became acting commissioner in January after Dr. Lucien Moolenaar, former acting commissioner and now the department’s deputy commissioner for public health services, was accused of embezzling about $100,000 from the V.I. government between 1995 and 2000.
Prior to becoming acting commissioner, Matthew had been director since 1991 of the Maternal and Child Health and the Children with Special Health Care Needs programs. She served as Health Department assistant commissioner from 1999 until earlier this year.
In other committee action, the governor's renomination of Territorial Court Judge Edgar Ross was approved by unanimous vote. If Ross passes muster with the full Senate, which Dowe, the committee chair, said will likely meet over several days next week, he will be sitting for his third six-year term on the territorial bench.
The committee also approved the nomination of Yvonne Bowsky to sit as a Government Employee Retirement System board member.

The Joseph Sibilly Elementary Schol will hold its November PTA meeting in the school's library.
All parents are encouraged to attend.

The Joseph Sibilly Elementary School will hold the November PTA meeting at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 11, in the school's library. All parents are encouraged to attend.

The Joseph Sibilly Elementary School will hold an Open House and Report Card Distribution on Friday. All parents and guardians are encouraged to attend between the hours of 8:15 and 11 a.m. and 1 to 2 p.m. to confer with their child's teachers or school administrators for progress updates.

Oct. 30, 2001 – The Port Authority will conduct a routine mock disaster drill Wednesday at Cyril E. King Airport on St. Thomas.
The drill, a Federal Aviation Administration requirement, will test communications, resources and response time by local emergency agencies to an airport secuity alert. The testing is intended to fine-tune response capability in the event of a real disaster.
A Port Authority release issued Monday said airport security measures put in place since Sept. 11 will continue in force throughout the drill. Taxiway B will be closed during the drill, but airport operations will not be affected. For more information, call the VIPA hotline at 714-6642.

Oct. 30, 2001 – The Port Authority will conduct a routine mock disaster drill Wednesday at Cyril E. King Airport.
The drill, a Federal Aviation Administration requirement, will test communications, resources and response time by local emergency agencies to an airport secuity alert. The testing is intended to fine-tune response capability in the event of a real disaster.
A Port Authority release issued Monday said airport security measures put in place since Sept. 11 will continue in force throughout the drill. Taxiway B will be closed during the drill, but airport operations will not be affected. For more information, call the VIPA hotline at 714-6642.

The Joseph Sibilly Elementary School will have Open House and Report Card Distribtuion between 8:15 and 11 a.m. and again from 1 to 2 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 9.
All parents are encouraged to visit the campus to confer with their child's teachers or school administrators for progress updates.

Oct. 30, 2001 — Chuck Ulrich knows what the restorative powers of St. Croix's calm beauty can do for frazzled nerves. So after watching New York City firefighters deal with the carnage wrought by terrorists on the World Trade Center, Ulrich, the owner of an Internet-based travel agency, knew what he had to do.
His agency, Bluewater Travel, focuses on bringing people to St. Croix by booking them at hotels and vacation villas. Why not bring some of the New York City firefighters who provided rescue efforts during the initial stages of the attack down for a little free R-and-R, he thought.
"It's fun when you take someone who is burnt out from working and traveling to a villa and they look out at the view and the beauty of St. Croix and just say, 'Wow,'" Ulrich said. "They are not people with a lot of money to spend; they are people who need a vacation and need to get away. If anyone ever needed to get away. it is these firemen."
To make the "wow" happen, Ulrich and Marti Gotts of Vacation St. Croix, another villa broker, have put together free vacation packages on St. Croix for the New York firefighters and their families. Ulrich said it started with the idea of a complete vacation package involving a five-night stay on St. Croix plus one-night stays on St. Thomas and St. John, as well as lunch and dinner.
To make things happen, Ulrich contacted the Family Crisis Center of the New York City Fire Department and told them about the available packages.
"They called me back and said that three families including five kids … wanted to come for Thanksgiving week," he said.
That meant more packages had to be added. Gotts then spoke with several villa owners and managed to get seven more. Victoria Finke, owner of Villa Margarita, also donated one of her suites.
There are now 12 packages, which can be viewed at http://www.st-croix.net/firemen.html.
The next step, Ulrich said, was to look for discounted or donated airfare, but he has had limited luck in this area.
"I was seeing airfares of over $500, and because they are families of up to five people, being able to get a donated fare for them was going to determine whether they would be able to come," he said. "I told my story to American Airlines, and they gave me a great fare to be used for this first group."
But still, it was expensive for the families. Hearing the call, Carl Gotts, Marti’s husband, said his company, Gotts Insurance, would donate the airfare for this first group of 13. Ulrich said he is now looking for donations to cover airfare for the remaining firemen who will receive the packages.
To handle donations, Ulrich talked to Roger Dewey, executive director of the St. Croix Foundation for Community Development, which agreed to set up a fund. Ulrich said the effort can take any donation, no matter how small.
"I’m especially welcoming the smaller things that make a difference," he said, ranging from massages to taxi rides. "Here is a group of Americans helping Americans, and it’s more than just a hotel room."
To make a donation of goods or services or for information, e-mail Ulrich at bw@viaccess.net or call 340-773-1902.
To contribute toward airfare costs, please send or take donations to St. Croix Foundation for Community Development, 202 Chandlers Wharf Bldg., Gallows Bay, St. Croix VI 00820. Make checks payable to St. Croix Foundation (put "firemen's visit" in memo).

Oct. 30, 2001 — It's unofficially official: Dr. Cora Christian will run for governor in the 2002 election.
Christian confirmed Monday that a fund-raising dinner — the first — was held over the weekend to support her bid for the territory’s top political job. She noted, however, that she has not officially submitted her candidacy to the V.I. Board of Election.
"It was really a party that was held on my behalf," Christian said. "We have individuals who would like to support me with fund-raising."
Christian will run as an independent and said she had not decided on a running mate. She did note that while she has lived and worked on St. Croix for the majority of her adult life, she was raised on St. Thomas. That likely suggests she will tap that island for her partner.
Local political wisdom holds that a gubernatorial candidate must choose a running mate who will give geographical balance to the ticket. That vote-getting tactic, however, has ended up with the last two governors – St. Thomians – having less than warm relationships with their Crucian lieutenant governors. Christian, however, said she will strive for a better relationship.
"We want to make it a team approach," she said, "not just use them to get votes. We really want to do this. It’s really a Virgin Islands effort.
"We want to do it right and not speak about the past but look to the future," she said.
Christian has practiced medicine on St. Croix since 1971. In addition to being a family physician, she is medical director at the Hovensa refinery. She is also the principal clinical coordinator of the Virgin Islands Medical Institute. Christian is married and has two children.
While incumbent Gov. Charles Turnbull hasn’t made an official announcement, he has hinted that he will run for governor again in the November 2002 election. So has his running mate, Lt. Gov. Gerard Luz James II.
Other potential candidates include Dr. Olaf Hendricks of St. Croix and John de Jongh of St. Thomas. Former Sen. Lloyd Williams of St. Thomas has also told friends that he will run for governor next year, and there is speculation in political circles that Sens. Celestino White and Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg of St. Thomas and Alicia "Chucky" Hansen of St. Croix may be considering a run for the governorship.

Oct. 29, 2001 — A federal judge said Monday that he believes officials are making great progress toward bringing the two jails on St. Thomas up to constitutional standards.
Also on Monday, District Judge Stanley Brotman signed an order that will set up a bank account for all money that the U.S. Marshals Service and the Immigration and Naturalization Service turn over to the V.I. government for jail infrastructure.
Those funds now stand at about $500,000 a year but could double after the Sub Base Annex jail is completed later this year. The money will be earmarked for improvements and maintenance of the jails at the Criminal Justice Complex and the Sub Base Annex that could bring the facilities up to constitutional standards.
In the past, money from the two federal agencies has gone into the General Fund and has not been used to make court-ordered improvements to the jail, according to Horace Magras, Bureau of Corrections director.
"We've gone about 1,000 miles today," Brotman said Monday after signing the order to set up the separate account. "Everyone is looking for one thing — to put this jail back on a constitutional basis. I don't think it's too far away that I can sign this order to turn it back over to you."
The V.I. government has been under federal orders since 1994 to address unconstitutional prison conditions at the jail, housed on the third floor of the Alexander A. Farrelly Criminal Justice Complex on the St. Thomas waterfront, and the jail annex in Sub Base. Although major progress has been made over the years — such as addressing the extreme overcrowding that plagued the downtown jail in the past — Brotman found the V.I. government in contempt of court earlier this year for not taking the steps necessary to bring the jails up to minimum standards.
On Monday, Brotman led Gov. Charles W. Turnbull and other top officials on a tour of the two jails and later held a court hearing on the progress that has been made and what still needs to be done. Brotman said he was pleased for the most part with what he's seen, and that he hopes to relinquish his oversight of the jail system in the near future.
"I'm impressed with the aesthetics of the jail," he said, adding that it was cleaner than before and that the guards seemed more disciplined and professional than in the past.
Attorney General Iver Stridiron said the separate bank account will allow prison officials to address pressing needs such as paying for inmates' medicines, carrying out maintenance work and improving fire safety, all of which have been ongoing problems.
Magras said it may be possible to make the additional improvements necessary to get the court order lifted within a year.
But while the judge and prison officials seemed enthusiastic about the progress, Eric Balaban of the American Civil Liberties Union's National Prison Project, which represents inmates in their case against the V.I. government, said improvements have taken far too long.
"This is a minor step. What's lacking here is will," Balaban said, noting that the Virgin Islands prison case is by far the smallest that the ACLU is involved in, and yet, after seven years of court orders, the jails still are under the oversight of the District Court.
"This should have been resolved years ago," he said. "It's an embarrassment."
Balaban said he hoped prison officials would now take seriously their responsibility for getting the jails up to constitutional standards. He noted that Turnbull and other officials are still under a contempt of court order.
Much of Monday's hearing centered on issues of improving fire safety at the Criminal Justice Complex, improving ventilation and taking steps to ensure that inmates get their medicines.