Oct. 2, 2001 – The public has until Oct. 17 to comment on the final draft environmental assessment for the V.I. National Park's plan to reduce its rat, cat and mongoose populations.
The National Park Service does not plan to completely eliminate those populations — which are not native to St. John — but expects to reduce them to manageable numbers. Currently, they pose problems for the park's natural resources and long-term management programs as well as to visitor health and safety, said Rafe Boulon, the park's chief of resources management.
Park Supt. John King said that although the park does not normally solicit public comment on final plans, he is asking for it this time to make sure the park has addressed people's concerns.
Areas targeted include Hawksnest, Trunk, Cinnamon and Francis Bays as well as Annaberg Plantation. These are the areas within the park where the most human activity occurs.
The park began developing the management plan earlier this year. Residents had a chance to express their views during the first review period. Boulon said most concerns centered on the bureaucratic language in the plan and the fate of cats.
The plan was rewritten to make it more reader friendly, he said, and "Some people want to adopt the cats."
As the plan stands now, he said, cats will be trapped and attempts will be made to find them homes through the Animal Care Center of St. John. Traps will be checked every six hours or less to reduce stress for the animals.
Additionally, park officials plan to ask owners of domestic cats that frequent park areas to put tags on their animals. This will facilitate returning pet cats to their owners should they end up in a trap.
"We certainly don't want to catch people's personal cats," Boulon said.
Details of the tag distribution are not final.
The plan calls for reducing the animal habitat and food supply. Boulon said this includes making sure concession stands dispose of food properly and use animal-proof garbage cans. Residents who live in areas inside or near the park will be asked to do the same. Next, the park plans to reduce the numbers of the targeted animals. For rats and mongooses, this would be accomplished by baiting stations with diphacione, an anti-coagulant that causes the animals to die by internal bleeding.
"It was developed to be as humane as possible. They go to sleep and don't wake up," Boulon said. It works on mammals, not other creatures such as birds, he said.
Boulon said the stations where the bait is placed would not be accessible to larger animals. Because the animals would return to their burrows to die, larger predator animals would not have the opportunity to eat their carcasses.
After this final review period, Boulon said, the plan will go to the park's regional office in Atlanta for approval. Once that happens, reduction work by the Wildlife Service Division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will begin.
After the numbers are reduced, the park staff plans to keep tabs on the populations. When they again exceed the limits, staff members will work to reduce them.
Copies of the plan may be viewed at public libraries, at the park's Visitor Center in Cruz Bay and at the Christiansted National Historic Site headquarters on St. Criox.
The full text of the plan is posted on the web sites for the National Park Service and the Friends of the V.I. National Park. At either site, scroll down to the second category, "Planning, Documents," and click on the listing "10/2/01 – Download final plan for sustained reduction of rats, cats and mongooses." The 81-page document requires Acrobat Reader to download; that software itself is available for downloading without charge.
Boulon also will supply hard copy versions. To request one, call him at 693-8950, ext. 224.
Comments on the plan should be made in writing to V.I. National Park Supt. John King, 130 Cruz Bay Creek, St. John VI 00830.

Oct. 2, 2001 – "You Da Man" is the title of a forum for men and boys from the age of 12 that will take place Sunday evening at the Walker's By The Sea restaurant on the beach at Lindbergh Bay.
The program is the 2nd annual Men's Forum sponsored by the nondenominational V.I. Disciples of Christ. Doors will open at 4:30 p.m. The male half of the public is invited to come out and spend the evening developing "a deeper understanding of the role of men in a changing world," and to think about what kind of a man each wants to become.
Dr. Hollis Liverpool, also known as the famed Trinidadian calypsonian "Mighty Chalkdust," will perform. Door prizes, including a three-month gym membership, will go to the first 20 individuals through the door; prizes will be awarded during a "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" sort of competition; and a Colombian Emeralds watch will go to the winner of a dominoes tournament.
There'll be food, too — barbecue ribs, chicken and fish provided by Glenn Nelthropp and side dished by chef Wendell Walker.
The registration fee is $20 for adults and $10 for students.
Presenters will include Pastor Angel Martinez from Puerto Rico. He has led churches in New York City, Santo Domingo and Puerto Rico, in one case leading a congregation as it grew in membership from 18 to more than 800. A "dynamic, forthright young spitfire," in the words of one of the forum organizers, Mary Ann Dennis, he leads by example and "gets you to think."
Topics to be considered will include "Man for the Future" and "Man for the Family."
"The main event will be held in the restaurant itself, as we'll be featuring the calypsonian, guest speaker Angel Martinez and a video presentation," Pastor Paul Dennis of V.I. Disciples of Christ said. "The barbecue will be an indoor/outdoor event. The dominoes tournament will probably be held indoors."
And lest the ladies feel overlooked, Mary Ann Dennis said, they'll have their day on Nov. 11, when the congregation will host its 3rd annual Women's Day program. This year, she said, it will look at "What Women Really Want."
The V.I. Disciples of Christ is affiliated with the International Churches of Christ. Under the leadership of Pastor Dennis, the congregation meets Sundays at 10 a.m. and Wednesdays at 7 p.m. at its place of worship in Berne's Alley. Anyone wanting additional information about the men's forum is asked to call Pastor Dennis at 774-4459.

Oct. 2, 2001 – Former Virgin Islands drug czar Wayne Chinnery went on trial Tuesday in District Court, accused of violating a woman's civil rights by pistol-whipping her during a drug search in May of last year.
Chinnery, a former candidate for governor and senator who served as Gov. Charles W. Turnbull's drug-policy adviser and head of the Narcotics Strike Force, is charged with a civil rights violation, use of a firearm during a violent crime, and third-degree assault with a deadly weapon.
But his defense attorney, Stephen Brusch, told jurors in his opening statement that Chinnery was within his rights as a law-enforcement officer when he hit the woman during a confrontation. Brusch also told the jury that his client was holding a radio, not a gun, at the time.
In the prosecution's opening statement, Barry Williams, U.S. Department of Justice special prosecutor, told jurors that Chinnery and another narcotics agent stopped their car on May 21, 2000, in Hospital Ground on St. Thomas to search several people for drugs.
Chinnery told 19-year-old Charese Huggins of Hospital Ground that he wanted to search her, but she refused and cursed at him, at which time Chinnery grabbed her by the throat, Huggins testified Tuesday. When she pushed his hand away, she said, Chinnery hit her in the side of the head with his handgun.
"He took himself out of the role of a law-enforcement officer and into the role of a criminal," Williams told jurors. "All individuals have the right to be free of excessive force."
The blow opened a cut on Huggins' head that required stitches at Roy L. Schneider Hospital, where she made a report of the incident to police investigators, Huggins testified.
But Brusch told jurors that Chinnery was acting within his rights as a law-enforcement officer when he asked to search Huggins. She disobeyed that order, cursed at Chinnery and shoved him before he swung his arm and hit her, Brusch said.
Brusch also said that Chinnery was not holding a gun at the time, but had a radio in his hand. If jurors find that he did not have a gun in his hand, it would undermine the charges of assault with a deadly weapon and using a firearm during a crime, Brusch noted.
Chinnery lost his job as drug czar in August of last year after he was accused of assaulting the mother of one of his children in the parking lot of a St. Thomas resort a month earlier. A Territorial Court judge later acquitted him of that charge after the woman testified that he had not hit her and that her statement to police had been blown out of proportion.
The federal trial is expected to continue Wednesday before District Court Judge Thomas K. Moore.

Oct. 2, 2001 – The Water and Power Authority announced Tuesday afternoon that it expected to restore potable water service to Frederiksted customers by 8 p.m.
Service was interrupted along Prince Street from Fisher Street to Estate La Grange due to a broken water main, a WAPA release stated.

Oct. 2, 2001 – The public has until Oct. 17 to comment on the final draft environmental assessment for the V.I. National Park's plan to reduce its rat, cat and mongoose populations.
The National Park Service does not plan to completely eliminate those populations — which are not native to St. John — but expects to reduce them to manageable numbers. Currently, they pose problems for the park's natural resources and long-term management programs as well as to visitor health and safety, said Rafe Boulon, the park's chief of resources management.
Park Supt. John King said that although the park does not normally solicit public comment on final plans, he is asking for it this time to make sure the park has addressed the people's concerns.
Areas targeted include Hawksnest, Trunk, Cinnamon and Francis Bays as well as Annaberg Plantation. These are the areas within the park where the most human activity occurs.
The park began developing the management plan earlier this year. Residents had a chance to express their views during the first review period. Boulon said most concerns centered on the bureaucratic language in the plan and the fate of cats.
The plan was rewritten to make it more reader friendly, he said, and "Some people want to adopt the cats."
As the plan stands now, he said, cats will be trapped and attempts will be made to find them homes through the Animal Care Center of St. John. Traps will be checked every six hours or less to reduce stress for the animals.
Additionally, park officials plan to ask owners of domestic cats that frequent park areas to put tags on their animals. This will facilitate returning pet cats to their owners should they end up in a trap.
"We certainly don't want to catch people's personal cats," Boulon said.
Details of the tag distribution are not final.
The plan calls for reducing the animal habitat and food supply. Boulon said this includes making sure concession stands dispose of food properly and use animal-proof garbage cans. Residents who live in areas inside or near the park will be asked to do the same. Next, the park plans to reduce the numbers of the targeted animals. For rats and mongooses, this would be accomplished by baiting stations with diphacione, an anti-coagulant that causes the animals to die by internal bleeding.
"It was developed to be as humane as possible. They go to sleep and don't wake up," Boulon said. It works on mammals, not other creatures such as birds, he said.
Boulon said the stations where the bait is placed would not be accessible to larger animals. Because the animals would return to their burrows to die, larger predator animals would not have the opportunity to eat their carcasses.
After this final review period, Boulon said, the plan will go to the park's regional office in Atlanta for approval. Once that happens, reduction work by the Wildlife Service Division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will begin.
After the numbers are reduced, the park staff plans to keep tabs on the populations. When they again exceed the limits, staff members will work to reduce them.
Copies of the plan may be viewed at public libraries, at the park's Visitor Center in Cruz Bay and at the Christiansted National Historic Site headquarters on St. Criox.
The full text of the plan is posted on the web sites for the National Park Service and the Friends of the V.I. National Park. At either site, scroll down to the second category, "Planning, Documents," and click on the listing "10/2/01 – Download final plan for sustained reduction of rats, cats and mongooses." The 81-page document requires Acrobat Reader to download; that software itself is available for downloading without charge.
Boulon also will supply hard copy versions. To request one, call him at 693-8950, ext. 224.
Comments on the plan should be made in writing to V.I. National Park Supt. John King, 130 Cruz Bay Creek, St. John VI 00830.

Oct. 2, 2001 – What do Coastal Zone Management, saving energy, University of the Virgin Islands curricula, delinquency prevention, bilingual school services and care for children with the human immunodeficiency virus have in common?
First, V.I. government agencies administer programs in all of these areas. Second, taken together, they have just been awarded a total of more than $2 million in federal grants.
The grants were all announced Friday in releases from the office of Delegate Donna Christian Christensen. Some awards are continuations; others are new. Most require matching funds at some level by the local agency.
The recipient agencies and amounts of their grants are:
– $1,025,000 from the U.S. Commerce Department to DPNR.
– $360,000 from the U.S. Commerce Department to the Economic Research Bureau.
– $214,673 from the U.S. Commerce Department to the University of the Virgin Islands.
– $207,775 from the U.S. Health and Human Services Department to the Health Department.
– $205,000 from the U.S. Energy Department to the V.I. Energy Office.
– $100,000 from the U.S. Education Department's State Grant Program to the V.I. Education Department.
– $33,000 from the U.S. Justice Department to the Law Enforcement Planning Commission.
The DPNR grant, from U.S. Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is to implement the Coastal Zone Management program for continuing and new projects in enforcement, coastal zone planning, public information, permit processing and monitoring, coastal nonpoint implementation and other areas.
The grant to the Economic Research Bureau is to expand its efforts to aid in the fiscal and economic recovery of the Virgin Islands.
UVI's grant, also from NOAA, will incorporate Geographic Information Systems technology into the physical and social sciences curricula through collaboration with the university's Conservation Data Center, which has worked with GIS technology for several years.
The Health Department's STD/HIV/TB Program (the letters stand for sexually-transmitted diseases, human immunodeficiency virus and tuberculosis) is the recipient of the only grant that does not require local matching. The funds, received under what is known as the Ryan White Act, Title IV, are to coordinate services to children, youth, women and families impacted by HIV. Lois V. Sanders, director of the V.I. program, says these first-year funds will go toward the goal of providing coordinated HIV treatment and care on island, so patients will not have to leave the island. The grant is renewable to 2004.
No information could be obtained on the grant to the V.I. Energy Office. Personnel in Christensen's office referred questions to V.I. Energy Office, where they were in turn referred to the Planning and Natural Resources Department public information office. Messages left there were not returned.
The Education grant, from Title VII State Education Agency, is to support projects to improve English proficiency for children and youth. The V.I. Bilingual Education Advisory Committee requested the grant for instructional guidance and services needed to eliminate the achievement gap between language minority students and native English-speaking majority students.
The grant to LEPC, the second recent award under the federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, will support the objectives of the federal Community Prevention Grants Program, which seeks to mobilize community involvement to develop local strategies toward a client-centered continuum of services for at-risk children and their families.
The awards to the Planning and Natural Resources Department for coastal zone management programs and for the Energy Office are continuation grants. All others are new.

Oct. 2, 2001 – What do Coastal Zone Management, saving energy, University of the Virgin Islands curricula, delinquency prevention, bilingual school services and care for children with the human immunodeficiency virus have in common?
First, V.I. government agencies administer programs in all of these areas. Second, taken together, they have just been awarded a total of more than $2 million in federal grants.
The grants were all announced Friday in releases from the office of Delegate Donna Christian Christensen. Some awards are continuations; others are new. Most require matching funds at some level by the local agency.
The recipient agencies and amounts of their grants are:
– $1,025,000 from the U.S. Commerce Department to DPNR.
– $360,000 from the U.S. Commerce Department to the Economic Research Bureau.
– $214,673 from the U.S. Commerce Department to the University of the Virgin Islands.
– $207,775 from the U.S. Health and Human Services Department to the Health Department.
– $205,000 from the U.S. Energy Department to the V.I. Energy Office.
– $100,000 from the U.S. Education Department's State Grant Program to the V.I. Education Department.
– $33,000 from the U.S. Justice Department to the Law Enforcement Planning Commission.
The DPNR grant, from U.S. Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is to implement the Coastal Zone Management program for continuing and new projects in enforcement, coastal zone planning, public information, permit processing and monitoring, coastal nonpoint implementation and other areas.
The grant to the Economic Research Bureau is to expand its efforts to aid in the fiscal and economic recovery of the Virgin Islands.
UVI's grant, also from NOAA, will incorporate Geographic Information Systems technology into the physical and social sciences curricula through collaboration with the university's Conservation Data Center, which has worked with GIS technology for several years.
The Health Department's STD/HIV/TB Program (the letters stand for sexually-transmitted diseases, human immunodeficiency virus and tuberculosis) is the recipient of the only grant that does not require local matching. The funds, received under what is known as the Ryan White Act, Title IV, are to coordinate services to children, youth, women and families impacted by HIV. Lois V. Sanders, director of the V.I. program, says these first-year funds will go toward the goal of providing coordinated HIV treatment and care on island, so patients will not have to leave the island. The grant is renewable to 2004.
No information could be obtained on the grant to the V.I. Energy Office. Personnel in Christensen's office referred questions to V.I. Energy Office, where they were in turn referred to the Planning and Natural Resources Department public information office. Messages left there were not returned.
The Education grant, from Title VII State Education Agency, is to support projects to improve English proficiency for children and youth. The V.I. Bilingual Education Advisory Committee requested the grant for instructional guidance and services needed to eliminate the achievement gap between language minority students and native English-speaking majority students.
The grant to LEPC, the second recent award under the federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, will support the objectives of the federal Community Prevention Grants Program, which seeks to mobilize community involvement to develop local strategies toward a client-centered continuum of services for at-risk children and their families.
The awards to the Planning and Natural Resources Department for coastal zone management programs and for the Energy Office are continuation grants. All others are new.

Oct. 2, 2001 – What do Coastal Zone Management, saving energy, University of the Virgin Islands curricula, delinquency prevention, bilingual school services and care for children with the human immunodeficiency virus have in common?
First, V.I. government agencies administer programs in all of these areas. Second, taken together, they have just been awarded a total of more than $2 million in federal grants.
The grants were all announced Friday in releases from the office of Delegate Donna Christian Christensen. Some awards are continuations; others are new. Most require matching funds at some level by the local agency.
The recipient agencies and amounts of their grants are:
– $1,025,000 from the U.S. Commerce Department to DPNR.
– $360,000 from the U.S. Commerce Department to the Economic Research Bureau.
– $214,673 from the U.S. Commerce Department to the University of the Virgin Islands.
– $207,775 from the U.S. Health and Human Services Department to the Health Department.
– $205,000 from the U.S. Energy Department to the V.I. Energy Office.
– $100,000 from the U.S. Education Department's State Grant Program to the V.I. Education Department.
– $33,000 from the U.S. Justice Department to the Law Enforcement Planning Commission.
The DPNR grant, from U.S. Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is to implement the Coastal Zone Management program for continuing and new projects in enforcement, coastal zone planning, public information, permit processing and monitoring, coastal nonpoint implementation and other areas.
The grant to the Economic Research Bureau is to expand its efforts to aid in the fiscal and economic recovery of the Virgin Islands.
UVI's grant, also from NOAA, will incorporate Geographic Information Systems technology into the physical and social sciences curricula through collaboration with the university's Conservation Data Center, which has worked with GIS technology for several years.
The Health Department's STD/HIV/TB Program (the letters stand for sexually-transmitted diseases, human immunodeficiency virus and tuberculosis) is the recipient of the only grant that does not require local matching. The funds, received under what is known as the Ryan White Act, Title IV, are to coordinate services to children, youth, women and families impacted by HIV. Lois V. Sanders, director of the V.I. program, says these first-year funds will go toward the goal of providing coordinated HIV treatment and care on island, so patients will not have to leave the island. The grant is renewable to 2004.
No information could be obtained on the grant to the V.I. Energy Office. Personnel in Christensen's office referred questions to V.I. Energy Office, where they were in turn referred to the Planning and Natural Resources Department public information office. Messages left there were not returned.
The Education grant, from Title VII State Education Agency, is to support projects to improve English proficiency for children and youth. The V.I. Bilingual Education Advisory Committee requested the grant for instructional guidance and services needed to eliminate the achievement gap between language minority students and native English-speaking majority students.
The grant to LEPC, the second recent award under the federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, will support the objectives of the federal Community Prevention Grants Program, which seeks to mobilize community involvement to develop local strategies toward a client-centered continuum of services for at-risk children and their families.
The awards to the Planning and Natural Resources Department for coastal zone management programs and for the Energy Office are continuation grants. All others are new.

Dear Source,
Thank you to Priscilla Hintz for a wonderful letter ("New York: Days are long, but spirits are strong") and for her efforts to help such a cause as we face now. It's people like her that make me be proud to be a Virgin Islander. I had the misfortune of being at the site at the time of the attack. I worked in the South Tower on the 29th floor. Trust me, seeing it on the news cannot prepare you for actually seeing it in person.
But even through all this, I'm leaning toward agreeing that justice should prevail over vengeance. I know people who died, and I almost died, but we are a nation of survivors, hope and justice.
First and foremost, who exactly are we going to attack? Where are we going to attack? Even if we destroy Osama bin Laden, another radical will assume his position. This is a very delicate situation, and I believe that bin Laden's camp needs to be infiltrated and he needs to be weeded out. But that's my opinion.
God bless the people of the Virgin Islands, and I love you.
To my mom and dad on St. Croix, Alexander and Jeanette John, I love you and I miss you!
Diane G. John
New York, N.Y.

Editor's note: We welcome and encourage readers to keep the dialogue going by responding to Source commentary. Letters should be e-mailed with name and place of residence to source@viaccess.net.

Dear Source,
As a woman of Afro-Caribbean heritage I wholeheartedly agree with Dr. Iris Kern's position. I do agree that a tragedy occurred on Sept. 11 and unfortunately many lives were lost. Why should it take the loss of many innocents at home for things to change? Why is it that if you disagree with the majority it is presented as being un-American, communist or unpatriotic? Is it un-American to say that the United States of America was founded on the bloodshed and extermination of millions of native peoples?? Have they received justice?? What about the millions of people who were denied their basic freedoms to build this great country? Where is their justice??
What about the many horrific events the United States of America has participated in, events that have resulted in the deaths of no less than 8 million people worldwide since World War II? Many – in places from Baghdad to the Dominican Republic – are the result of military action or economic sanctions. Where is the justice for the innocent people who have died because of our policies and politics???
How many more innocents will be killed in our zest for "self defense" and the protection of our way of life? We will have all these deaths on our hands. How can I support plotting the murders of people who have nothing to do with terrorism? What kind of world do we want to live in? Are we going to get there by continuing to exploit others so that we may attain our dreams?? When will the cycle end? Why is America being exempted from "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you?"
Is it impossible to believe that if we all treated each other with kindness, understanding, forgiveness and compassion, we cannot exist one with another?
Caroline Browne
St. Thomas

Editor's note: We welcome and encourage readers to keep the dialogue going by responding to Source commentary. Letters should be e-mailed with name and place of residence to source@viaccess.net.