Under legislation now before Congress, an economic relief program for small businesses affected by the terrorist attacks would extend to companies outside the designated areas if they can show economic injury as a result of the events. V.I. businesses, tourist-related or not, might be eligible, Delegate Donna Christian Christensen said.
Oct. 3, 2001 – Under legislation introduced in Congress Tuesday, a one-year program of economic relief for small businesses affected by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks would extend to companies outside the geographically designated areas if they can show economic injury as a result of the events. Thus, Delegate Donna Christian Christensen said Wednesday, V.I. businesses, whether tourist-related or not, could be eligible for its benefits.
The Small Business Emergency Relief Act will allow qualifying businesses access to enhanced disaster-loan program assistance available through the U.S. Small Business Administration. The program, comparable to those made available in the territory after federal disasters were declared because of Hurricanes Hugo, Marilyn and Bertha, would provide loans below the current 4 percent interest rate and, in some cases, interest-free loans to businesses.
Also, the act would provide relief for businesses with existing SBA loans that are unable to make payments on schedule as a result of physical or economic injury. The SBA would be authorized to provide a reprieve of up to one year for such payments, and, on a case-by-case basis, the SBA administrator would have the authority to forgive existing loans and to waive the cap for new ones.
Christensen joined her colleagues on the House Committee on Small Business in introducing the measure. "This is just one of the measures being considered by the Congress to bring relief to businesses outside the disaster zone," she said in a release. "Other avenues are being explored that may spell relief for our tourism industry in the Virgin Islands."
GUIDE IS TO HELP STUDENTS MAKE SENSE OF DOLLARS
Oct. 3, 2001 – What is a commodity? Well, coconuts, mangoes, sugar and tea are commodities, and, at one time, they were used to barter for other goods or services.
But that was before we started using money. How we use money today and how it affects us, even as fifth and sixth graders, is the subject of "Growing up Financially," a 65-page teaching guide developed by Sen. Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg and his staff as part of an "economic literacy" program being implemented in the schools this academic year.
At a press briefing in the Education Department's teleconference center on St. Thomas Wednesday, Donastorg was joined by Education Commissioner Ruby Simmonds and Sen. Norman Jn. Baptiste, who chairs the Senate Education Committee. Noreen Michael, assistant Education commissioner, and her colleagues watched the program from St. Croix.
Simmonds expressed enthusiasm about the project. "It will affect the students' entire lives," she said, noting that the material will be presented to 61 fifth- and sixth-grade classes on St. Thomas and St. John and 72 such classes on St. Croix. "We're going to monitor the success of this program this year carefully," she said, adding, "Too often we don't follow through."
The curriculum addition was mandated by the 23rd Legislature, Donastorg said, in order to teach children basic concepts of money management and economics. He said he and his staff have been working on the project for two years.
The senator said he hopes to see the basics of money management taught to the students in such a way that they can relate what they learn to daily life. "These are the tools desperately needed for our kids to learn," he said. The lessons allow for flexibility, he noted, and teachers can integrate them into their classes as they see fit, not just in the teaching of mathematics.
Leroy Trotman, Education Department head of curriculum and instruction, said the lessons actually are intended to be integrated into the curriculum across many disciplines — the creative and performing arts, language arts, reading, writing, mathematics, social studies, history, the sciences and computer science.
For instance, he said, in a visual arts class, students could design their own checks; in a drama class, they could act out a skit of Taino and Carib amerindians using the barter system; in language arts they could write a report tracing the evolution of bartering to paper money; in math they could figure out how many pennies are in a million dollars.
Trotman said he will work with department coordinators in each subject area to get the program implemented.
Donastorg noted with some satisfaction that the executive and legislative branches of government and the private sector worked together in the endeavor. "We have contacted the chambers of commerce to enlist the expertise of the private sector in hands-on experience for the kids," Nicole Bollentini, Donastorg's public information aide, said. She said she hopes to have representatives of different finance-related fields speak to classes and to have teachers take their students on field trips to businesses.
The manual itself was published locally by InterVoyager Media, which subsidized a part of the printing costs.
Tynnetta McIntosh, a Chase Manhattan Bank officer and the V.I. Bankers Association community relations director, warmly endorsed the program. "We are getting a speakers bureau together to come to the schools," she said. "It will be a very good program."
Donastorg said the teaching manual shows the relationship between education levels and income levels. Such teaching points "are important realities that the children haven't been adequately taught" up to now, he said.
Julio Daniels, federal grant overseer for the Office of Management and Budget, and graphic artist Louis Ible Jr. created the artwork for the manual. Daniels, Donastorg's former chief of staff, proudly showed off his handiwork on the cover — an illustration of children hauling money in a wheelbarrow to the "Students' Savings Bank of the V.I."
Manuals have been distributed to all public and private schools in the territory, Donastorg said, and he is at work on a second manual, this one geared toward high school students. It will deal with the stock market, foreign currency and more sophisticated economics, he said.
But that was before we started using money. How we use money today and how it affects us, even as fifth and sixth graders, is the subject of "Growing up Financially," a 65-page teaching guide developed by Sen. Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg and his staff as part of an "economic literacy" program being implemented in the schools this academic year.
At a press briefing in the Education Department's teleconference center on St. Thomas Wednesday, Donastorg was joined by Education Commissioner Ruby Simmonds and Sen. Norman Jn. Baptiste, who chairs the Senate Education Committee. Noreen Michael, assistant Education commissioner, and her colleagues watched the program from St. Croix.
Simmonds expressed enthusiasm about the project. "It will affect the students' entire lives," she said, noting that the material will be presented to 61 fifth- and sixth-grade classes on St. Thomas and St. John and 72 such classes on St. Croix. "We're going to monitor the success of this program this year carefully," she said, adding, "Too often we don't follow through."
The curriculum addition was mandated by the 23rd Legislature, Donastorg said, in order to teach children basic concepts of money management and economics. He said he and his staff have been working on the project for two years.
The senator said he hopes to see the basics of money management taught to the students in such a way that they can relate what they learn to daily life. "These are the tools desperately needed for our kids to learn," he said. The lessons allow for flexibility, he noted, and teachers can integrate them into their classes as they see fit, not just in the teaching of mathematics.
Leroy Trotman, Education Department head of curriculum and instruction, said the lessons actually are intended to be integrated into the curriculum across many disciplines — the creative and performing arts, language arts, reading, writing, mathematics, social studies, history, the sciences and computer science.
For instance, he said, in a visual arts class, students could design their own checks; in a drama class, they could act out a skit of Taino and Carib amerindians using the barter system; in language arts they could write a report tracing the evolution of bartering to paper money; in math they could figure out how many pennies are in a million dollars.
Trotman said he will work with department coordinators in each subject area to get the program implemented.
Donastorg noted with some satisfaction that the executive and legislative branches of government and the private sector worked together in the endeavor. "We have contacted the chambers of commerce to enlist the expertise of the private sector in hands-on experience for the kids," Nicole Bollentini, Donastorg's public information aide, said. She said she hopes to have representatives of different finance-related fields speak to classes and to have teachers take their students on field trips to businesses.
The manual itself was published locally by InterVoyager Media, which subsidized a part of the printing costs.
Tynnetta McIntosh, a Chase Manhattan Bank officer and the V.I. Bankers Association community relations director, warmly endorsed the program. "We are getting a speakers bureau together to come to the schools," she said. "It will be a very good program."
Donastorg said the teaching manual shows the relationship between education levels and income levels. Such teaching points "are important realities that the children haven't been adequately taught" up to now, he said.
Julio Daniels, federal grant overseer for the Office of Management and Budget, and graphic artist Louis Ible Jr. created the artwork for the manual. Daniels, Donastorg's former chief of staff, proudly showed off his handiwork on the cover — an illustration of children hauling money in a wheelbarrow to the "Students' Savings Bank of the V.I."
Manuals have been distributed to all public and private schools in the territory, Donastorg said, and he is at work on a second manual, this one geared toward high school students. It will deal with the stock market, foreign currency and more sophisticated economics, he said.
JURY FINDS CHINNERY INNOCENT OF ALL 3 CHARGES
Oct. 3, 2001 – A U.S. District Court jury acquitted former V.I. drug czar Wayne Chinnery on Wednesday of all three charges that had been brought against him in connection with a May 2000 incident in Hospital Ground that sent a 19-year-old woman to the hospital.
Chinnery had been charged with a civil rights violation, use of a firearm in the commission of a crime and third-degree assault with a deadly weapon.
Charese Huggins, a 21-year-old Hospital Ground resident, had told investigators that Chinnery hit her on the side of the head with his Narcotics Strike Force-issued Glock 9mm handgun during a drug search. The head wound she suffered required stitches at the Roy L. Schneider Hospital, and while there she made a report to investigators, she testified.
But, taking the witness stand in his own defense Tuesday, Chinnery told the jury and District Court Judge Thomas K. Moore that what he had been holding was not a gun but a radio. He said he had struck Huggins only after she refused a lawful order to be searched for drugs, cursed at him and started a physical confrontation.
U.S. Justice Department Special Prosecutor Barry Williams had argued that Chinnery used excessive force with Huggins.
Chinnery's attorney, Stephen Brusch, told the jurors that Chinnery was acting within the law during the incident. Brusch noted that the area near the basketball court at the Winston Raymo Center in Hospital Ground is a known area of drug use, and that officers routinely stop people for searches there.
At the time of the incident, Chinnery, a former candidate for senator and governor, was serving both as head of the Narcotics Strike Force and as drug-policy adviser to Gov. Charles W. Turnbull. The governor relieved him of both positions in August of 2000 shortly after he was charged with assaulting the mother of one of his children.
Territorial Court Judge Rhys Hodge acquitted him of the aggravated assault charge in that case after the alleged victim testified that Chinnery had not hit her and said that the statement she made to police about the incident at the time had been blown out of proportion.
Chinnery had been charged with a civil rights violation, use of a firearm in the commission of a crime and third-degree assault with a deadly weapon.
Charese Huggins, a 21-year-old Hospital Ground resident, had told investigators that Chinnery hit her on the side of the head with his Narcotics Strike Force-issued Glock 9mm handgun during a drug search. The head wound she suffered required stitches at the Roy L. Schneider Hospital, and while there she made a report to investigators, she testified.
But, taking the witness stand in his own defense Tuesday, Chinnery told the jury and District Court Judge Thomas K. Moore that what he had been holding was not a gun but a radio. He said he had struck Huggins only after she refused a lawful order to be searched for drugs, cursed at him and started a physical confrontation.
U.S. Justice Department Special Prosecutor Barry Williams had argued that Chinnery used excessive force with Huggins.
Chinnery's attorney, Stephen Brusch, told the jurors that Chinnery was acting within the law during the incident. Brusch noted that the area near the basketball court at the Winston Raymo Center in Hospital Ground is a known area of drug use, and that officers routinely stop people for searches there.
At the time of the incident, Chinnery, a former candidate for senator and governor, was serving both as head of the Narcotics Strike Force and as drug-policy adviser to Gov. Charles W. Turnbull. The governor relieved him of both positions in August of 2000 shortly after he was charged with assaulting the mother of one of his children.
Territorial Court Judge Rhys Hodge acquitted him of the aggravated assault charge in that case after the alleged victim testified that Chinnery had not hit her and said that the statement she made to police about the incident at the time had been blown out of proportion.
CZM PROGRAM WINS NATIONAL RECOGNITION
Oct. 3, 2001 – Wednesday was the V.I. Coastal Zone Management program's day to shine in the nation's capital, as Planning and Natural Resources Commissioner Dean Plaskett accepted an "Excellence in Local Government" award from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on behalf of his staff.
"This government agency is being commended on a national level," a proud Plaskett said from Washington, D.C.
The CZM program falls under Planning and Natural Resources. Plaskett, CZM program director Janice Hodge and DPNR public relations person Annette Morales went to Washington for the presentation ceremony, held in the Rayburn Building, which houses offices for members of the House of Representatives. Plaskett said the federal government picked up the tab.
The commissioner said the territory was one of four locales chosen to receive the 2001 Walter B. Jones Award. The others were Old Saybrook, Conn.; Jefferson Parrish, La.; and St. Lucie County, Fla. The award, named for former congressman Walter B. Jones, honors organizations and individuals for their efforts in preserving coastal and ocean resources.
Plaskett said the NOAA judges looked for entities that inspired changes in the coastal management field, were effective in advancing the goals of the federal CZM act, succeeded in increasing public awareness of coastal issues, and used innovative techniques in administering the program. As a result of the recognition, "We're also able to serves as a model," he said.
He said the judges like the fact that the territory was involved in the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force, a group formed by then-President Bill Clinton in a 1998 directive to address critical issues in the protection and restoration of coral reef ecosystems around the country. The Virgin Islands is part of the Coral Reef Initiative Coordinating Committee, which is part of the task force, he said.
Other things that impressed the judges, Plaskett said, were the V.I. government's efforts to establish a territorial marine park and the way the CZM program works to balance the protection of natural resources with the need for development.
Delegate Donna Christian Christensen, who had nominated DPNR for the award, said at the breakfast presentation ceremony that she was pleased to see it receive the national recognition, "for I know of the hard work and diligence that the department has employed over the years" to preserve and maintain V.I. coastal and ocean resources.
"This is not always an easy task," Christensen added, as the Virgin Islands "is blessed with vast and beautiful waters and a delicate and complex ecosystem that, while loved by its people for its productivity over the years, is often overused and put at risk." She called the department's efforts "wise work" that will benefit future generations in immeasurable ways.
"This government agency is being commended on a national level," a proud Plaskett said from Washington, D.C.
The CZM program falls under Planning and Natural Resources. Plaskett, CZM program director Janice Hodge and DPNR public relations person Annette Morales went to Washington for the presentation ceremony, held in the Rayburn Building, which houses offices for members of the House of Representatives. Plaskett said the federal government picked up the tab.
The commissioner said the territory was one of four locales chosen to receive the 2001 Walter B. Jones Award. The others were Old Saybrook, Conn.; Jefferson Parrish, La.; and St. Lucie County, Fla. The award, named for former congressman Walter B. Jones, honors organizations and individuals for their efforts in preserving coastal and ocean resources.
Plaskett said the NOAA judges looked for entities that inspired changes in the coastal management field, were effective in advancing the goals of the federal CZM act, succeeded in increasing public awareness of coastal issues, and used innovative techniques in administering the program. As a result of the recognition, "We're also able to serves as a model," he said.
He said the judges like the fact that the territory was involved in the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force, a group formed by then-President Bill Clinton in a 1998 directive to address critical issues in the protection and restoration of coral reef ecosystems around the country. The Virgin Islands is part of the Coral Reef Initiative Coordinating Committee, which is part of the task force, he said.
Other things that impressed the judges, Plaskett said, were the V.I. government's efforts to establish a territorial marine park and the way the CZM program works to balance the protection of natural resources with the need for development.
Delegate Donna Christian Christensen, who had nominated DPNR for the award, said at the breakfast presentation ceremony that she was pleased to see it receive the national recognition, "for I know of the hard work and diligence that the department has employed over the years" to preserve and maintain V.I. coastal and ocean resources.
"This is not always an easy task," Christensen added, as the Virgin Islands "is blessed with vast and beautiful waters and a delicate and complex ecosystem that, while loved by its people for its productivity over the years, is often overused and put at risk." She called the department's efforts "wise work" that will benefit future generations in immeasurable ways.
UVI CLASS OF 2002 MEETINGS
The University of the Virgin islands class of 2002 will hold meetings at 3 p.m. on the cafeteria on Sunday, Oct. 7 and 21.
Fund raising and community service activities will be finalized. Contact Jacqueline A. Sprauve at 693-1046 for more informaiton.
Fund raising and community service activities will be finalized. Contact Jacqueline A. Sprauve at 693-1046 for more informaiton.
ANNUAL RUN FOR BREAST CANCER
The St. Thomas/St. John chapter of the American Cancer Society will hold its fourth annual "Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk, Run, Roll", on Sunday, Oct. 28 at Cruz Bay, St. John.
Please contact Jane Rawlings at 693-9467 or 714-5522 for more information.
Please contact Jane Rawlings at 693-9467 or 714-5522 for more information.
ANNUAL CANCER RUN
The St. Thomas/St. John American Cancer Society will hold its fourth annual "Making Strides Aginst Breast Cancer Walk, Run Roll,"
on Sunday, Oct. 28, at Cruz Bay St. John.
Contact Jane Rawlings at 693-9467 or 714-5522 for more information.
on Sunday, Oct. 28, at Cruz Bay St. John.
Contact Jane Rawlings at 693-9467 or 714-5522 for more information.
GERALDINE MORRIS FUNERAL FRIDAY
Services for Geraldine Morris who died Sunday, Sept. 30, will be held on Friday, at the Calvary Baptiste Church with viewing starting at 8 a.m. Internment will be at Western Cemetery.
She is survived by a son Henry Morris, Jr.; daughters Henrita Todman, Pearlita harper, Louise Hendricks and Gloria Thompson; brother Alwyn "Lad" Richards; sisters Etta Lewis, Andromeda Husband, Delphine Smith and Vitalia Wallace; 17 grandchildren; 25 grandchildren; too many friends and relatives to mention.
Funeral arrangements by Creque Funeral Home.
MEETINGS SET ON PARK MOORING, ANCHORING FEES
Oct. 3, 2001 – With a mooring and anchoring fee program in the wind, V.I. National Park officials are asking for public input at two meetings scheduled on St. John. The first will be an evening session, from 7 to 9 p.m. Oct. 15 at the Legislature building. The other will be a morning forum, from 7:30 to 9 a.m. Oct. 18 in the third-floor meeting area at the Marketplace.
While park officials wants to know boaters' and residents' opinions, they also want to hear from companies interested in bidding on contracts to collect the money.
Acting park planner Jim Owens said they want to know what companies propose before deciding on the scope of the contract. He said it might play out that one company gets the contract for the entire park, with subcontractors working the various bays, or the job might be divided up geographically among several firms.
"There's going to be some physical limitations on how many places you can get to," Owens said, referring to the need for the contractor to go from boat to boat, day to day, to collect the fees.
There are 182 overnight moorings in park waters. Owens said the park's vessel management plan, now in its final stages of development, calls for overnight fees of $12 for mooring use and $8 for anchoring in park waters. "Day use will continue to be free," he said.
Park officials plan to start collecting mooring fees in early 2002. The use of a contractor to carry out the work comes under the park's commercial services plan which took effect in July.
Officials also want to know if any companies holding commercial services permits — which allow them to operate within the park — are interested in hiring a park ranger for their visitor tours. Owens said some tour operators have indicated they would do so if rangers were available. He estimated it would cost about $35 an hour to hire a ranger. If there is a demand, "We will expand the interpretative ranger staff," he said.
In addition to expressing views at the upcoming meetings, anyone may fill out a questionnaire that addresses the mooring and anchoring fees as well as the availability of rangers for hire. Copies of the questionnaires are available at Connections in Cruz Bay and Coral Bay, as well as from Owens. They must be submitted by Oct. 31. Owens can be reached by telephone at 776-6201, ext. 247, or by e- mail to npplanning@islands.vi.
While park officials wants to know boaters' and residents' opinions, they also want to hear from companies interested in bidding on contracts to collect the money.
Acting park planner Jim Owens said they want to know what companies propose before deciding on the scope of the contract. He said it might play out that one company gets the contract for the entire park, with subcontractors working the various bays, or the job might be divided up geographically among several firms.
"There's going to be some physical limitations on how many places you can get to," Owens said, referring to the need for the contractor to go from boat to boat, day to day, to collect the fees.
There are 182 overnight moorings in park waters. Owens said the park's vessel management plan, now in its final stages of development, calls for overnight fees of $12 for mooring use and $8 for anchoring in park waters. "Day use will continue to be free," he said.
Park officials plan to start collecting mooring fees in early 2002. The use of a contractor to carry out the work comes under the park's commercial services plan which took effect in July.
Officials also want to know if any companies holding commercial services permits — which allow them to operate within the park — are interested in hiring a park ranger for their visitor tours. Owens said some tour operators have indicated they would do so if rangers were available. He estimated it would cost about $35 an hour to hire a ranger. If there is a demand, "We will expand the interpretative ranger staff," he said.
In addition to expressing views at the upcoming meetings, anyone may fill out a questionnaire that addresses the mooring and anchoring fees as well as the availability of rangers for hire. Copies of the questionnaires are available at Connections in Cruz Bay and Coral Bay, as well as from Owens. They must be submitted by Oct. 31. Owens can be reached by telephone at 776-6201, ext. 247, or by e- mail to npplanning@islands.vi.
SIBILLY CLASSES RESUME AS CISTERN WORK GOES ON
Oct. 3, 2001 – It was business as usual Wednesday at Joseph Sibilly School, according to Education Department spokeswoman Juel Anderson.
Students were sent home early on Tuesday after the school ran short of water in its temporary plastic cisterns. Anderson said when teachers learned that a water delivery expected before the start of school on Tuesday had not arrived, they refused to enter their classrooms.
She said their concerns centered on the fact that although some water remained in cisterns, there wasn't enough to supply all the toilets. "That's a sanitary issue," she said.
Anderson said the plastic cisterns have been in use at the school because work crews haven't finished installing filtration systems in the permanent cisterns. She said this job was part of the summer maintenance program that didn't get finished because the Education Department didn't have enough contractors for all the needed work. She stressed that Tuesday's problem was in no way related to the water contamination problems that plagued the school in recent years.
Water for the plastic cisterns had been ordered on Monday, but due to a mixup in delivery orders was not delivered until around 11 a.m. Tuesday, after the students had spent several hours outdoors waiting for it.
Anderson said Principal Dora Hill decided that because the morning's events had frustrated both the teachers and the students, she would close the school after the students had lunch. School buses were summoned, and the children were dismissed around noon. "The principal said the day was lost," Anderson said.
Hill was atttending an all-day workshop Wednesday and could not be reached for comment.
Anderson, whose daughter attends Sibilly School, said she always sends her child to school with a jug of water, to make sure she gets enough to drink.
Students were sent home early on Tuesday after the school ran short of water in its temporary plastic cisterns. Anderson said when teachers learned that a water delivery expected before the start of school on Tuesday had not arrived, they refused to enter their classrooms.
She said their concerns centered on the fact that although some water remained in cisterns, there wasn't enough to supply all the toilets. "That's a sanitary issue," she said.
Anderson said the plastic cisterns have been in use at the school because work crews haven't finished installing filtration systems in the permanent cisterns. She said this job was part of the summer maintenance program that didn't get finished because the Education Department didn't have enough contractors for all the needed work. She stressed that Tuesday's problem was in no way related to the water contamination problems that plagued the school in recent years.
Water for the plastic cisterns had been ordered on Monday, but due to a mixup in delivery orders was not delivered until around 11 a.m. Tuesday, after the students had spent several hours outdoors waiting for it.
Anderson said Principal Dora Hill decided that because the morning's events had frustrated both the teachers and the students, she would close the school after the students had lunch. School buses were summoned, and the children were dismissed around noon. "The principal said the day was lost," Anderson said.
Hill was atttending an all-day workshop Wednesday and could not be reached for comment.
Anderson, whose daughter attends Sibilly School, said she always sends her child to school with a jug of water, to make sure she gets enough to drink.
