The St. Thomas and St. John Rotary Clubs will hold their annual Paul Harris Dinner Dance at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 17, at the Westin Resort on St. John.
The fun- and fund-raising event, hosted by the St. John Rotary Club, will have as its theme "Flavors of St. John."
Tickets are available from Rotarians.

Oct. 3, 2001 — Even though the Legislature approved the territory’s Internet gaming bill in July, Casino Control Commission members said Tuesday that major flaws remain in the law.
The problems center mostly around the Internet gaming "master franchisers" spelled out in the law. The law provides for two franchiser companies to fund and build a data center, or a "server farm," on St. Croix where Internet gaming firms will house their websites. Along with marketing the territory as an Internet gaming jurisdiction – something the Casino Commission is not charged to do – the master franchisers will charge the gaming firms to operate. Perspective gaming firms will also pay application and licensing fees to the Casino Commission, which will be responsible for investigating and approving them, as it does for brick-and-mortar casino applicants.
But Frederick Handleman, solicitor general for the V.I. Justice Department and legal counsel to the Casino Commission, said Tuesday that he believes the law inconsistent, especially when it comes to background checks of the franchisers and what happens if a check comes back negative. Both Casino Commission chairwoman Eileen Petersen and Oliver David, the head of the Division of Gaming Enforcement, said the ambiguous language would result in a waste of time and money for an already cash- and personnel-strapped agency.
Initially, V.I. Technological Initiative LLP, a company formed specifically for Internet gaming by St. Thomas businessmen Nick Pourzal, Michael Bornn and Tom Colameco, was to hold the sole franchise. But even though the St. Thomas trio did the initial work on the proposed bill, senators decided to allow a franchiser from St. Croix into the game.
Two principals in the company, St. Croix Gaming LLP, are Bernie Burkholder, president and CEO of Treasure Bay Gaming & Resorts Inc., which operates the Divi Casino on St. Croix, and St. Croix businessman Paul Arnold.
More glitches

Yet another major glitch in the law is that while Internet gaming operators must pay fees to the Casino Commission and the master franchisers for the opportunity to base themselves in the territory, the franchisers won’t pay any V.I. tax.
According to past estimates from V.I. Technological Initiative when it was proposed as the sole franchise holder, the government would stand to collect 10 percent of the company’s gross revenues, projected at about $50 million a year by 2003. But Handleman said that the way the law was finally approved, the franchisers don’t pay any taxes to the V.I. government.
"I understand now that [Handleman] was correct. No taxes at all," Petersen said in a subsequent interview. She added that the law doesn’t call for the payment of a franchise fee to the government either. "I don’t know why the Legislature drafted it in that manner. I can’t imagine they meant to draft it that way."
Handleman said that the tax issue – along with the other problems – where pointed out to senators during hearings on the Internet bill.
"One of the reasons given for Internet gaming being approved was for the economics," Handleman said.
"I’ve never been presented with an objective analysis of how much money would come to the government," Petersen said.
At the Casino Commission meeting on Tuesday, Michael Bornn, a partner in of one the franchisers, V.I. Technological Initiative, was asked about revenues his company was projecting. He said the company won’t know until the Casino Commission drafts its Internet gaming rules and regulations.
"It is one of our great anxieties about what we have. We don’t know until the rules and regulations are done to allow us to compete," he said, adding that there are a lot of variables that will effect revenues. "I can’t tell you a number straight up."
Proponents say Internet gambling will bring billions of dollars into the Virgin Islands treasury as a percentage of the money wagered. Neither Congress nor the U.S. Justice Department has taken a definitive stand on whether Internet gambling violates the federal Wire Act of 1960. The governor of Nevada signed a bill in June allowing the Internet gaming in that state, and observers say the outcome there will likely determine whether the V.I. government can clear the many legal hurdles of bringing the industry to the territory.
Petersen, meanwhile, said the V.I. Casino Control Act had to be amended three times before commissioners and prospective investors were comfortable with its provisions. She said the Internet gaming law will be similar, more so because it is unexplored territory for any American jurisdiction.
Drafting rules and regulation alone will take six to nine months she said. And that will come about with the help of Anthony Cabot, a world renown expert on Internet gaming working under contract with the Casino Commission. Then there must be a background investigation of the franchisers. Finally, the Casino Commission must be satisfied that the Internet gaming meets all applicable laws, not just nationally.
All that on $300,000 that has yet to be allocated by the Turnbull administration.
"As soon as the money is secured, I will give the go-ahead to start," Petersen said. "If there is no money we won’t go forward.
"Las Vegas called Internet gaming for them a monumental challenge," she added. "For us, it’s a leap into the unknown."

The Rotary Club of St. John will meet at 12:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 5, at Westin hotel's Beach Cafe. The speaker will be Susan Laua Lugo of United Way.

The Rotary Club of St. John will meet at 12:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 5, at Westin Hotel's Beach Cafe. The speaker will be Susan Laura Lugo of United Way.

Samuel Hezekiah Simmons, age 63, passed away on Wednesday, Sept. 26, at Brandon Regional Hospital. Funeral services will take place at 1 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 4, at St. Peter's Anglican Church. Viewing will begin at 12 noon. Interment will take place at Kingshill Cemetery.
He is survived by his wife Marie; sons Daryl, Launchland, Stafford, Aston, Samuel, Jr. and Yancey Simmons; daughters Chearoll Williams, Dotslyn Ford and Jerrilyn Smith; 18 grandchildren; brothers Carol and Noel Simmons; sister Angela; and other relatives and friends too numerous to mention.
Professional arrangements by James Memorial Funeral Home, Inc.

Oct. 3, 2001 — The St. Croix Chamber of Commerce announced Tuesday that it will drop its lawsuit to force the V.I. Legislature to reduce its ranks, but members said they will take a different tack to effect political change.
Chamber President Carmelo Rivera, along with attorney Douglas Brady and former senator Holland Redfield, a member of the organization’s government affairs committee, said the business group had decided to withdraw its June lawsuit to force the Legislature to comply with a referendum last November on reducing the number of senators from 15 to 11 or nine.
Instead, the Chamber will attempt to implement numbered seating for the Senate via the territory’s initiative ballot process.
"This is the first time in the history of the Virgin Islands an initiative has been undertaken as part of the Revised Organic Act," Brady said.
Redfield said that a mandate was issued last November when out of more than 33,000 voters, some 15,000 expressed the desire for a nine-member Senate. However, the Legislature voted in July against a bill to implement the change.
Numbered seating would include seven seats each in the St. Croix and St. Thomas-St. John districts and one at-large seat to be filled by a St. John resident. Incumbents would be assigned a numbered seat and challengers would decide which one they would run against. The proposed system, Redfield said, would instill debate and accountability to a political process that now more resembles a popularity contest.
"There isn’t any agenda in this," Redfield said. "The only agenda is accountability. I think the electorate in the Virgin Islands is exasperated."
Brady said he was confident the Chamber would have prevailed in the Senate reduction lawsuit but it would have taken years to run its course. The initiative process is a more expedient way at reform, he said.
"The suit wouldn’t have changed the process. It was simply a change in the number of senators. They still would have been elected at-large," he said, adding that would have concentrated power in "the hands of a few senators" and would have only "exacerbated issues."
The initiative process
Before the Chamber can get the numbered seating proposal on the ballot, it must go through a series of petitions, verifications and approvals, which are all spelled out in the Revised Organic Act of 1954.
First, the Chamber has to come up with a simple yes-or-no question for the ballot: Shall senators be elected to numbered seats? Then the group must collect the signatures of at least 1 percent of the registered voters in each district in order to have the V.I. supervisor of elections qualify the question for the ballot.
Each district, Brady said, has about 27,000 registered voters. So the Chamber must have some 275 signatures before it can go to John Abramson Jr., the supervisor of elections, who has 10 days to verify the signatures.
If everything checks out, Abramson passes the preliminary petition on to an initiative titling board, made up of himself, V.I. Attorney General Iver Stridiron and the Senate’s legislative counsel, Constance Krigger. Within 30 days, the board will hold a public hearing, prepare the official ballot title, the submission question and a summary of the initiative proposal.
At that point, the Chamber will have 180 days to circulate the initiative petition to the voting public. To qualify for the ballot, the petition must be signed by at least 10 percent of the voters in each district. That would be about 2,700 signatures for St. Croix and 2,700 for St. Thomas-St. John.
If that threshold is reached within the time frame, Abramson has 15 days to verify the signatures. If the criteria are met, Abramson then passes the petition on to the Legislature.
Senators must accept or reject the measure within 30 days. If approved, the petition becomes law. If rejected, the question goes to the voters in November 2002.
The Legislature can, however, submit a counter-initiative to the voters. If both are approved, the question that receives the most votes prevails.
For an initiative to pass, at least 50 percent plus one of the voters registered must turn out to vote. If so, then a simple majority will decide the question.
On a mission
One of the major hurdles in the initiative and recall process, as well as past questions regarding the territory’s status, has been meeting the 50 percent-plus-one threshold. But recent efforts by the supervisor of elections to trim the dead wood from the voter rolls — those people who haven’t voted in the last two general elections — should make it easier to meet the percentage requirements.
"There have been thousands of people who have been taken off the rolls" because of inactivity, Redfield said. "I believe now there are people who truly will be voting. I think it is attainable."
Rivera, the St. Croix Chamber president, said the effort to qualify the initiative will begin immediately. The organization will ask for volunteers to circulate petitions on both St. Croix and St. Thomas-St. John. He also said the Chamber will hold public forums about the initiative process and urged voters of all parties and persuasions to join in the effort to "implement meaningful election reform to ensure accountability of elected officials.
"We believe we must continue to develop our government," Rivera said. "Good government is good for all the people as well as business."

Oct. 3, 2001 — At the same time the St. Croix Chamber of Commerce announced Tuesday its plan to abort a legal battle to force the V.I. Legislature to reduce its ranks, members said they are ready to take up a different tact to affect political change.
Chamber president Carmelo Rivera, along with attorney Douglas Brady and former senator Holland Redfield, a member of the organization’s government affairs committee, said the St. Croix business group had decided to drop its June lawsuit seeking to force the Legislature to act in accordance with a referendum last November on reducing the number of senators from 15 to either 11 or nine.
Instead, the Chamber will seek political and election reform by attempting to implement numbered seating for the Senate via the territory’s initiative ballot process.
"This is the first time in the history of the Virgin Islands an initiative has been undertaken as part of the Revised Organic Act," Brady said.
Redfield said that a mandate was issued last November when out of more than 33,000 voters, some 15,000 expressed the desire for a nine-member Senate. The Legislature in July, however, voted against a bill seeking to make the change.
Numbered seating would include seven seats each in the St. Croix and St. Thomas-St. John districts and one at-large seat to be filled by a St. John resident. Incumbents would be assigned a numbered seat and challengers would be able to pick who they would run against. The proposed system, Redfield said, would instill debate and accountability to a political process that now more resembles a popularity contest.
"There isn’t any agenda in this," Redfield said. "The only agenda is accountability. I think the electorate in the Virgin Islands is exasperated."
Brady said he was confident the Chamber would have prevailed in the Senate reduction lawsuit, but said it would have taken years for it to run its course. A more expedient way at reform, he said, is the initiative process.
"The suit wouldn’t have changed the process. It was simply a change in the number of senators. They still would have been elected at-large," he said, adding that would have concentrated power in "the hands of a few senators" and would have only "exacerbated issues."
The initiative process
Before the Chamber can get the numbered seating proposal on the ballot, it must go through a series of petitions, verifications and approvals, which are all spelled out in the Revised Organic Act of 1954.
First, the proponent, the Chamber in this case, has to come up with a simple yes-or-no question for the ballot: Shall senators be elected to numbered seats? The Chamber must then collect the signatures of at least 1 percent of the registered voters in each district in order to have the V.I. supervisor of elections qualify the question for the ballot.
Each district, Brady said, has about 27,000 registered voters. So the Chamber must have some 275 signatures before it can go to John Abramson Jr., the supervisor of elections, who has 10 days to verify the signatures.
If everything checks out, Abramson passes the preliminary petition on to an initiative titling board, made up of himself, V.I. Attorney General Iver Stridiron and the Senate’s legislative counsel, Attorney Constance Krigger. Within 30 days, the board will hold a public hearing, prepare the official ballot title, the submission question and a summary of the initiative proposal.
At that point, the Chamber will have 180 days to circulate the initiative petition to the voting public. In order to qualify for the ballot, the petition must be signed by at least 10 percent of the voters in each district. That would be about 2,700 signatures in each for St. Croix and St. Thomas-St. John.
If that threshold is reached within the time frame, Abramson has 15 days to verify the signatures. If the criteria is met, Abramson then passes the petition on to the Legislature.
Senators must accept or reject the measure within 30 days. If approved, the petition becomes law. If rejected, the question goes to the voters in November 2002.
The Legislature can, however, submit a counter-initiative to the voters. If both are approved, the question that received the most votes prevails.
For an initiative to pass, at least 50 percent plus one of the voters registered must turn out to vote. If so, then a simple majority will decide the question.
On a mission
One of the major hurdles in the initiative and recall process, as well as past questions regarding the territory’s status, has been meeting the 50 percent-plus-one threshold. But recent efforts by the supervisor of elections to trim the deadwood from the voter rolls – those people who haven’t voted in the last two general elections – should make it easier to meet the percentage requirements.
"There have been thousands of people who have been taken off the rolls" becaus of inactivity Redfield said. "I believe now there are people who truly will be voting. I think it is attainable."
Rivera, The St. Croix Chamber president, said the effort to qualify the initiative will begin immediately. The organization will ask for volunteers to circulate petitions on both St. Croix and St. Thomas-St. John. The Chamber of Commerce in that district has not been asked to join in the effort.
"At this point it's just the St. Croix Chamber of Commerce taking the lead," Rivera said.
He also said the St. Croix Chamber will hold public forums about the initiative process and urged voters of all parties and persuasions to join in the effort to "implement meaningful election reform to insure accountability of elected officials.
"We believe we must continue to develop our government," Rivera said. "Good government is good for all the people as well as business."

Oct. 3, 2001 — The St. Croix Chamber of Commerce announced Tuesday that it will drop its lawsuit to force the V.I. Legislature to reduce its ranks, but members said they will take a different tack to effect political change.
Chamber President Carmelo Rivera, along with attorney Douglas Brady and former senator Holland Redfield, a member of the organization’s government affairs committee, said the business group had decided to withdraw its June lawsuit to force the Legislature to comply with a referendum last November on reducing the number of senators from 15 to 11 or nine.
Instead, the Chamber will attempt to implement numbered seating for the Senate via the territory’s initiative ballot process.
"This is the first time in the history of the Virgin Islands an initiative has been undertaken as part of the Revised Organic Act," Brady said.
Redfield said that a mandate was issued last November when out of more than 33,000 voters, some 15,000 expressed the desire for a nine-member Senate. However, the Legislature voted in July against a bill to implement the change.
Numbered seating would include seven seats each in the St. Croix and St. Thomas-St. John districts and one at-large seat to be filled by a St. John resident. Incumbents would be assigned a numbered seat and challengers would decide which one they would run against. The proposed system, Redfield said, would instill debate and accountability to a political process that now more resembles a popularity contest.
"There isn’t any agenda in this," Redfield said. "The only agenda is accountability. I think the electorate in the Virgin Islands is exasperated."
Brady said he was confident the Chamber would have prevailed in the Senate reduction lawsuit but it would have taken years to run its course. The initiative process is a more expedient way at reform, he said.
"The suit wouldn’t have changed the process. It was simply a change in the number of senators. They still would have been elected at-large," he said, adding that would have concentrated power in "the hands of a few senators" and would have only "exacerbated issues."
The initiative process
Before the Chamber can get the numbered seating proposal on the ballot, it must go through a series of petitions, verifications and approvals, which are all spelled out in the Revised Organic Act of 1954.
First, the Chamber has to come up with a simple yes-or-no question for the ballot: Shall senators be elected to numbered seats? Then the group must collect the signatures of at least 1 percent of the registered voters in each district in order to have the V.I. supervisor of elections qualify the question for the ballot.
Each district, Brady said, has about 27,000 registered voters. So the Chamber must have some 275 signatures before it can go to John Abramson Jr., the supervisor of elections, who has 10 days to verify the signatures.
If everything checks out, Abramson passes the preliminary petition on to an initiative titling board, made up of himself, V.I. Attorney General Iver Stridiron and the Senate’s legislative counsel, Constance Krigger. Within 30 days, the board will hold a public hearing, prepare the official ballot title, the submission question and a summary of the initiative proposal.
At that point, the Chamber will have 180 days to circulate the initiative petition to the voting public. To qualify for the ballot, the petition must be signed by at least 10 percent of the voters in each district. That would be about 2,700 signatures for St. Croix and 2,700 for St. Thomas-St. John.
If that threshold is reached within the time frame, Abramson has 15 days to verify the signatures. If the criteria are met, Abramson then passes the petition on to the Legislature.
Senators must accept or reject the measure within 30 days. If approved, the petition becomes law. If rejected, the question goes to the voters in November 2002.
The Legislature can, however, submit a counter-initiative to the voters. If both are approved, the question that receives the most votes prevails.
For an initiative to pass, at least 50 percent plus one of the voters registered must turn out to vote. If so, then a simple majority will decide the question.
On a mission
One of the major hurdles in the initiative and recall process, as well as past questions regarding the territory’s status, has been meeting the 50 percent-plus-one threshold. But recent efforts by the supervisor of elections to trim the dead wood from the voter rolls — those people who haven’t voted in the last two general elections — should make it easier to meet the percentage requirements.
"There have been thousands of people who have been taken off the rolls" because of inactivity, Redfield said. "I believe now there are people who truly will be voting. I think it is attainable."
Rivera, the St. Croix Chamber president, said the effort to qualify the initiative will begin immediately. The organization will ask for volunteers to circulate petitions on both St. Croix and St. Thomas-St. John. He also said the Chamber will hold public forums about the initiative process and urged voters of all parties and persuasions to join in the effort to "implement meaningful election reform to ensure accountability of elected officials.
"We believe we must continue to develop our government," Rivera said. "Good government is good for all the people as well as business."

Oct. 3, 2001 — The St. Croix Chamber of Commerce announced Tuesday that it will drop its lawsuit to force the V.I. Legislature to reduce its ranks, but members said they will take a different tack to effect political change.
Chamber President Carmelo Rivera, along with attorney Douglas Brady and former senator Holland Redfield, a member of the organization’s government affairs committee, said the business group had decided to withdraw its June lawsuit to force the Legislature to comply with a referendum last November on reducing the number of senators from 15 to 11 or nine.
Instead, the Chamber will attempt to implement numbered seating for the Senate via the territory’s initiative ballot process.
"This is the first time in the history of the Virgin Islands an initiative has been undertaken as part of the Revised Organic Act," Brady said.
Redfield said that a mandate was issued last November when out of more than 33,000 voters, some 15,000 expressed the desire for a nine-member Senate. However, the Legislature voted in July against a bill to implement the change.
Numbered seating would include seven seats each in the St. Croix and St. Thomas-St. John districts and one at-large seat to be filled by a St. John resident. Incumbents would be assigned a numbered seat and challengers would decide which one they would run against. The proposed system, Redfield said, would instill debate and accountability to a political process that now more resembles a popularity contest.
"There isn’t any agenda in this," Redfield said. "The only agenda is accountability. I think the electorate in the Virgin Islands is exasperated."
Brady said he was confident the Chamber would have prevailed in the Senate reduction lawsuit but it would have taken years to run its course. The initiative process is a more expedient way at reform, he said.
"The suit wouldn’t have changed the process. It was simply a change in the number of senators. They still would have been elected at-large," he said, adding that would have concentrated power in "the hands of a few senators" and would have only "exacerbated issues."
The initiative process
Before the Chamber can get the numbered seating proposal on the ballot, it must go through a series of petitions, verifications and approvals, which are all spelled out in the Revised Organic Act of 1954.
First, the Chamber has to come up with a simple yes-or-no question for the ballot: Shall senators be elected to numbered seats? Then the group must collect the signatures of at least 1 percent of the registered voters in each district in order to have the V.I. supervisor of elections qualify the question for the ballot.
Each district, Brady said, has about 27,000 registered voters. So the Chamber must have some 275 signatures before it can go to John Abramson Jr., the supervisor of elections, who has 10 days to verify the signatures.
If everything checks out, Abramson passes the preliminary petition on to an initiative titling board, made up of himself, V.I. Attorney General Iver Stridiron and the Senate’s legislative counsel, Constance Krigger. Within 30 days, the board will hold a public hearing, prepare the official ballot title, the submission question and a summary of the initiative proposal.
At that point, the Chamber will have 180 days to circulate the initiative petition to the voting public. To qualify for the ballot, the petition must be signed by at least 10 percent of the voters in each district. That would be about 2,700 signatures for St. Croix and 2,700 for St. Thomas-St. John.
If that threshold is reached within the time frame, Abramson has 15 days to verify the signatures. If the criteria are met, Abramson then passes the petition on to the Legislature.
Senators must accept or reject the measure within 30 days. If approved, the petition becomes law. If rejected, the question goes to the voters in November 2002.
The Legislature can, however, submit a counter-initiative to the voters. If both are approved, the question that receives the most votes prevails.
For an initiative to pass, at least 50 percent plus one of the voters registered must turn out to vote. If so, then a simple majority will decide the question.
On a mission
One of the major hurdles in the initiative and recall process, as well as past questions regarding the territory’s status, has been meeting the 50 percent-plus-one threshold. But recent efforts by the supervisor of elections to trim the dead wood from the voter rolls — those people who haven’t voted in the last two general elections — should make it easier to meet the percentage requirements.
"There have been thousands of people who have been taken off the rolls" because of inactivity, Redfield said. "I believe now there are people who truly will be voting. I think it is attainable."
Rivera, the St. Croix Chamber president, said the effort to qualify the initiative will begin immediately. The organization will ask for volunteers to circulate petitions on both St. Croix and St. Thomas-St. John. He also said the Chamber will hold public forums about the initiative process and urged voters of all parties and persuasions to join in the effort to "implement meaningful election reform to ensure accountability of elected officials.
"We believe we must continue to develop our government," Rivera said. "Good government is good for all the people as well as business."

BELOVED EDUCATOR ELENA CHRISTIAN DIES AT 105
Oct. 2, 2001 — Elena Christian, one of the Virgin Islands’ educational icons, died Tuesday on St. Croix at the age of 105.
As the matriarch of the Christian clan, her life spanned more than five generations that included son Almeric Christian, former chief judge of the U.S. District Court, who died two years ago at age 80, and granddaughter Donna Christian Christensen, the territory’s delegate to Congress.
As an educator, Christian has a career that covered more than five decades, from 1913, when she began teaching elementary school in what was then the Danish West Indies, until 1967, when she retired. During that time she was also a high school teacher, an assistant principal and finally principal of the then Christiansted High School.
She was honored twice by the Legislature, in 1967 at her retirement and 1971, when the junior high school in Christiansted was named in her honor.
"She helped shape the lives of many Virgin Islands school children, many of whom grew up to be community leaders," Christensen said. "Our entire family is, of course, greatly saddened by the death of our beloved matriarch, but it was not unexpected, as we have been blessed to have her with us for 105 years, and over five generations."
Gov. Charles W. Turnbull noted that Christian’s own education didn’t end with her retirement. "Because she was of strong character and considered learning a never-ending process, she earned a master's degree in 1967 from Hampton Institute in Virginia," he said, describing her as "one of the most beloved educators that the Virgin Islands has produced."
Sen. Vargrave Richards, a former teacher, said that while he was saddened by Christian’s death, he would celebrate the contributions she made to the community. "Mrs. Christian will be remembered with great respect and love by all whom she taught, worked with, served and fought for," he said. "We salute this beloved matriarch and thank her for the enormous strength and courage she displayed in service to the territory."
Senate President Almando "Rocky" Liburd, also a former teacher, said extended his condolences to the Christian family on behalf of the 24th Legislature. He called Christian a lady of immense spiritual faith who dedicated much of her energy to the St. John Anglican Church in Christiansted.
He said Christian "will always be remembered for her pioneering work in education and a pillar of strength and immense wisdom in our community."
Christensen said the family was still in the process of notifying family members and friends and will begin making preparations for a service celebrating Elena Christian’s life shortly.