Sept. 28, 2001 – The Government Employees Retirement System has instituted a change in procedure for V.I. Housing Authority employees applying for personal loans effective Monday.
Such employees must present their pay stubs for Aug. 16, Aug. 30, Sept. 13 and Sept. 27, GERS administrator Laurence Bryan announced in a release Friday.
"This procedure should be followed until further notice," the release said, advising VIHA employees to check with their payroll offices for additional information.
4 PAY STUBS REQUIRED OF VIHA LOAN APPLICANTS
Source staff
Sept. 28, 2001 – The Government Employees Retirement System has instituted a change in procedure for V.I. Housing Authority employees applying for personal loans effective Monday.
Such employees must present their pay stubs for Aug. 16, Aug. 30, Sept. 13 and Sept. 27, GERS administrator Laurence Bryan announced in a release Friday.
"This procedure should be followed until further notice," the release said, advising VIHA employees to check with their payroll offices for additional information.
Sept. 28, 2001 – The Government Employees Retirement System has instituted a change in procedure for V.I. Housing Authority employees applying for personal loans effective Monday.
Such employees must present their pay stubs for Aug. 16, Aug. 30, Sept. 13 and Sept. 27, GERS administrator Laurence Bryan announced in a release Friday.
"This procedure should be followed until further notice," the release said, advising VIHA employees to check with their payroll offices for additional information.
MILLIN HOME MEETING TO DISCUSS NEW SERVICES
Sept. 28, 2001 – Residents of the Lucinda Millin Home and members of their families are urged to attend a "joint family meeting" with officials of the Human Services Department and the V.I. Housing Authority at 4 p.m. Sunday in the lobby of the senior citizens' facility.
The meeting is to "discuss our plans to improve the quality of life and provide extended services for our elderly residents who can no longer live independently or who require regular assistance," Conrad Francois, Housing Authority executive director, said in a release.
The meeting is to "discuss our plans to improve the quality of life and provide extended services for our elderly residents who can no longer live independently or who require regular assistance," Conrad Francois, Housing Authority executive director, said in a release.
GASIFICATION COST, TRACK RECORD QUESTIONED
Sept. 28, 2001 – Michael Bornn's "mission" is to raise questions about Caribe Waste Technologies' waste-to-energy gasification plant before it becomes a done deal, he said at a Rotary Club of St. John meeting on Friday.
The St. Thomas resident has used his TV2 talk show and has personally bent the ear of anyone who will listen to let people know the concerns he has about the project as a result of information he has turned up in recent months.
For starters, he told the Rotary audience, the government rejected any other technology but gasification to deal with the territory's huge solid waste problems. Then, it picked Caribe Waste Technologies over eight other companies that submitted proposals, despite the fact that some presented much lower price tags.
Caribe Waste Technologies' bid came in at $168 per ton of waste to be processed, Bornn said, while other companies in the running quoted $30 a ton and $55 a ton. "So, you start to scratch your head and wonder what's going on here," he said to the dozen and a half people at the luncheon meeting, held at the Westin Resort.
He noted that the CWT process goes a step further than the others in order to get rid of the gasification residue, a process he likened to incineration. But he said he thought it was a lot of extra money to spend for the extra step. "I don't think we're in any position to afford a Cadillac," he said, referring to the territory's economic state.
Bornn said the Virgin Islands currently spends $9 million a year to get rid of garbage.
Another of his concerns, he said, is that gasification is an unproven technology for getting rid of garbage — although it has been used since 1910 to create energy. He said that when Gov. Charles W. Turnbull, the late Public Works commissioner, Harold Thompson, and St. Thomas contractor Leroy Marchena went to visit CWT's plant in Germany in 1999, they saw a facility that was closed. CWT has said three such facilities have been built — the one in Germany and others in Italy and Japan.
"I don't want to be a guinea pig," Bornn said.
Rotary president Doug White, who is a strong environmentalist, said he has information that shows the German plant isn't working properly.
Bornn also pointed out that if the plant is built then fails to function properly, the territory would be stuck with the huge problem of how to get rid of its garbage. He said the much cheaper option of creating new landfills was not explored thoroughly. He said it would cost $40 million to build and $10 million a year to operate new landfills on St. Croix and St. Thomas.
Properly designed, constructed and maintained landfills — not to be confused with the existing dumps at Bovoni on St. Thomas and at Anguilla on St. Croix — are not smelly, unattractive sites, Bornn contended. "You can live downwind from a landfill," he said.
He had no answer when V.I. National Park Supt. John King asked why the landfill option was ignored. But St. Thomas resident David Sheahan said it was because nobody wanted them in their back yard.
Bornn explained that the gasification process involves heating containers of waste material so as to remove the oxygen from the material, thereby causing it to decompose at a far faster rate than normal.
He noted that the Water and Power Authority board is deciding whether it wants to agree to buy electricity and water produced by the gasification process for the next 30 years. Selling the output to WAPA is a part of the Caribe Waste Technologies proposal. Bornn pointed out that WAPA officials say the utility can provide sufficient power on its own for customers across the territory. If WAPA agrees to the CWT condition, the proposal will go to the Legislature for a vote.
The St. Thomas resident has used his TV2 talk show and has personally bent the ear of anyone who will listen to let people know the concerns he has about the project as a result of information he has turned up in recent months.
For starters, he told the Rotary audience, the government rejected any other technology but gasification to deal with the territory's huge solid waste problems. Then, it picked Caribe Waste Technologies over eight other companies that submitted proposals, despite the fact that some presented much lower price tags.
Caribe Waste Technologies' bid came in at $168 per ton of waste to be processed, Bornn said, while other companies in the running quoted $30 a ton and $55 a ton. "So, you start to scratch your head and wonder what's going on here," he said to the dozen and a half people at the luncheon meeting, held at the Westin Resort.
He noted that the CWT process goes a step further than the others in order to get rid of the gasification residue, a process he likened to incineration. But he said he thought it was a lot of extra money to spend for the extra step. "I don't think we're in any position to afford a Cadillac," he said, referring to the territory's economic state.
Bornn said the Virgin Islands currently spends $9 million a year to get rid of garbage.
Another of his concerns, he said, is that gasification is an unproven technology for getting rid of garbage — although it has been used since 1910 to create energy. He said that when Gov. Charles W. Turnbull, the late Public Works commissioner, Harold Thompson, and St. Thomas contractor Leroy Marchena went to visit CWT's plant in Germany in 1999, they saw a facility that was closed. CWT has said three such facilities have been built — the one in Germany and others in Italy and Japan.
"I don't want to be a guinea pig," Bornn said.
Rotary president Doug White, who is a strong environmentalist, said he has information that shows the German plant isn't working properly.
Bornn also pointed out that if the plant is built then fails to function properly, the territory would be stuck with the huge problem of how to get rid of its garbage. He said the much cheaper option of creating new landfills was not explored thoroughly. He said it would cost $40 million to build and $10 million a year to operate new landfills on St. Croix and St. Thomas.
Properly designed, constructed and maintained landfills — not to be confused with the existing dumps at Bovoni on St. Thomas and at Anguilla on St. Croix — are not smelly, unattractive sites, Bornn contended. "You can live downwind from a landfill," he said.
He had no answer when V.I. National Park Supt. John King asked why the landfill option was ignored. But St. Thomas resident David Sheahan said it was because nobody wanted them in their back yard.
Bornn explained that the gasification process involves heating containers of waste material so as to remove the oxygen from the material, thereby causing it to decompose at a far faster rate than normal.
He noted that the Water and Power Authority board is deciding whether it wants to agree to buy electricity and water produced by the gasification process for the next 30 years. Selling the output to WAPA is a part of the Caribe Waste Technologies proposal. Bornn pointed out that WAPA officials say the utility can provide sufficient power on its own for customers across the territory. If WAPA agrees to the CWT condition, the proposal will go to the Legislature for a vote.
UVI CHEMISTRY MAJOR GETS NIH SCHOLARSHIP
Laurel Royer, a senior chemistry major at the University of the Virgin Islands, has been selected to receive a National Institutes of Health scholarship. She is one of 12 NIH award recipients, selected from a national pool of 200 applicants for the 2001-2002 academic year.
The scholarship covers full tuition and educational and living expenses, up to $20,000, according to a UVI release. As a condition of the the award, Royer has committed to a 10-week summer laboratory experience at the NIH and one year of NIH research service after graduation.
The scholarship can be extended year to year, Royer said, if a recipient maintains an acceptable grade-point average and passes muster in an interview.
Royer said she feels "blessed" by the award. She expressed awe at the credentials of the 22 finalists who were brought to Maryland for interviews prior to the naming of the 12 scholarship recipients. She said there were students from such large and prestigious schools as Yale, Tuskegee, Harvard and the University of Illinois at Urbana, and she felt honor for herself and for UVI, a small institution, to be among them.
Royer is the second UVI student to be so honored. Last year, an NIH scholarship went to junior chemistry major Sabrina Martyr. This, Royer said, brings recognition to UVI. The National Institutes of Health is one of the world's foremost medical research centers and the federal focal point for medical research in the United States.
Royer has conducted research at Michigan State University and Purdue University during her college summers. Last summer, at Purdue, she researched the chemistry of "Brefeldin A," a compound with anti-cancer properties. She presented a poster exhibition describing her summer work at the recent UVI Fall Research Symposium. Her experience at Purdue built on her chemistry studies at UVI and her earlier research at Michigan State.
During the 2000-2001 academic year, she worked with UVI’s Dr. Alice Stanford on the molecular genetics of an endangered plant, Solanum conocarpum, formerly found throughout the Caribbean but now found only on St. John.
Royer plans to earn a doctorate in organic chemistry in order to pursue a career in medicinal chemistry. She is the daughter of Margaret Romain of Vieille Case, Dominica, and Stephen Royer of St. Croix.
The scholarship covers full tuition and educational and living expenses, up to $20,000, according to a UVI release. As a condition of the the award, Royer has committed to a 10-week summer laboratory experience at the NIH and one year of NIH research service after graduation.
The scholarship can be extended year to year, Royer said, if a recipient maintains an acceptable grade-point average and passes muster in an interview.
Royer said she feels "blessed" by the award. She expressed awe at the credentials of the 22 finalists who were brought to Maryland for interviews prior to the naming of the 12 scholarship recipients. She said there were students from such large and prestigious schools as Yale, Tuskegee, Harvard and the University of Illinois at Urbana, and she felt honor for herself and for UVI, a small institution, to be among them.
Royer is the second UVI student to be so honored. Last year, an NIH scholarship went to junior chemistry major Sabrina Martyr. This, Royer said, brings recognition to UVI. The National Institutes of Health is one of the world's foremost medical research centers and the federal focal point for medical research in the United States.
Royer has conducted research at Michigan State University and Purdue University during her college summers. Last summer, at Purdue, she researched the chemistry of "Brefeldin A," a compound with anti-cancer properties. She presented a poster exhibition describing her summer work at the recent UVI Fall Research Symposium. Her experience at Purdue built on her chemistry studies at UVI and her earlier research at Michigan State.
During the 2000-2001 academic year, she worked with UVI’s Dr. Alice Stanford on the molecular genetics of an endangered plant, Solanum conocarpum, formerly found throughout the Caribbean but now found only on St. John.
Royer plans to earn a doctorate in organic chemistry in order to pursue a career in medicinal chemistry. She is the daughter of Margaret Romain of Vieille Case, Dominica, and Stephen Royer of St. Croix.
AUBREY ALVA ADAMS FUNERAL OCT. 2
Aubrey Alva Adams, age 52, of Estate Mon Bijou passed away on Sept. 24, at the Governor Juan Lius Hospital. Funeral services are set for 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 2, at the Kingshill Lutheran Church with viewing at 9 a.m. Internment will be in the Kingshill Cemetery. The first viewing will be from 2 to 4 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 1, at Thomas Hyll Chapel.
He is survived by his mother Adele Derricks; brothers Elston and John Adams; sisters Winona Adams Hendricks and Myrtle Adams; and many relatives and friends.
He is survived by his mother Adele Derricks; brothers Elston and John Adams; sisters Winona Adams Hendricks and Myrtle Adams; and many relatives and friends.
GUARD TROOPS TO PROVIDE SECURITY AT AIRPORTS
Sept. 28, 2001 — Gov. Charles W. Turnbull has ordered the V.I. National Guard to work with local and federal agencies to provide security at the territory’s two airports, a move that is in line with President George W. Bush’s directive on Thursday.
On Friday, Turnbull said he ordered Adj. Gen. Cleve McBean of the V.I. National Guard to work with the U.S. National Guard Bureau, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Port Authority and the Attorney General’s Office to prepare the deployment of troops at the two airports.
"I have directed [McBean] to take the necessary action to provide personnel for supplemental security at the Henry E. Rohlsen Airport and the Cyril E. King Airport," Turnbull said Friday afternoon.
Once deployment plans are approved by the National Guard Bureau, he said, the costs will be covered by the federal government. Turnbull said that could happen as soon as Monday. He didn’t say how many VING troops would be involved.
Airport security was added to the National Guard’s growing list of civil support and homeland defense missions on Thursday at Bush's direction. The FAA had asked the Defense Department to coordinate the use of about 5,000 National Guard members at 422 commercial airports nationwide for the next four to six months.
According to the National Guard Bureau, the FAA will train the National Guard troops in airport security techniques. The move is believed to be the first time that National Guard troops are being employed in such a way across the country.
Following the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, Bush authorized Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to call as many as 50,000 National Guard and military reserve troops to active duty. U.S. military planners have assigned allotments for 35,500 of them — 13,000 from the Air Force, 10,000 from the Army, 7,500 from the Marines, 3,000 from the Navy and 2,000 from the Coast Guard.
The forces were being called up to provide port operations, medical support, engineer support, general civil support and homeland defense.
On Friday, Turnbull said he ordered Adj. Gen. Cleve McBean of the V.I. National Guard to work with the U.S. National Guard Bureau, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Port Authority and the Attorney General’s Office to prepare the deployment of troops at the two airports.
"I have directed [McBean] to take the necessary action to provide personnel for supplemental security at the Henry E. Rohlsen Airport and the Cyril E. King Airport," Turnbull said Friday afternoon.
Once deployment plans are approved by the National Guard Bureau, he said, the costs will be covered by the federal government. Turnbull said that could happen as soon as Monday. He didn’t say how many VING troops would be involved.
Airport security was added to the National Guard’s growing list of civil support and homeland defense missions on Thursday at Bush's direction. The FAA had asked the Defense Department to coordinate the use of about 5,000 National Guard members at 422 commercial airports nationwide for the next four to six months.
According to the National Guard Bureau, the FAA will train the National Guard troops in airport security techniques. The move is believed to be the first time that National Guard troops are being employed in such a way across the country.
Following the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, Bush authorized Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to call as many as 50,000 National Guard and military reserve troops to active duty. U.S. military planners have assigned allotments for 35,500 of them — 13,000 from the Air Force, 10,000 from the Army, 7,500 from the Marines, 3,000 from the Navy and 2,000 from the Coast Guard.
The forces were being called up to provide port operations, medical support, engineer support, general civil support and homeland defense.
HOUSING RESIDENT LEADERS, COUNCIL TO MEET
Sept. 28, 2001 – A meeting for resident leaders and the Advisory Council on Housing has been called by the V.I. Housing Authority's Management and Tenant Services Department. The mandatory meeting will be Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at the VIHA central office training room on St. Thomas, a VIHA release states.
In compliance with the law, residents with disabilities also are invited to participate in the meeting.
Any persons in need of transportation are asked to call Jacqueline Joseph at 777-8442, ext. 7394, by Monday.
In compliance with the law, residents with disabilities also are invited to participate in the meeting.
Any persons in need of transportation are asked to call Jacqueline Joseph at 777-8442, ext. 7394, by Monday.
PART OF NORTHSHORE ROAD CLOSED SUNDAY
Sept. 28, 2001 – Construction work will close a portion of Northshore Road Sunday, Commissioner of Public Works Wayne D. Callwood advised the motoring public in a release. Northshore Road (Route 80) will be closed between Frangipani Road (Route 723) and Scenic Road (Route 78) from 6 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Motorists will be detoured. Alternate routes should be used, such as Route 73 (Canaan Ridge Road), route 78 (Scenic Road) via Route 72 or 73 (Midland Road and Frangipani Road).
V.I. Paving will be placing two sections of box culverts across the roadway. Commissioner Callwood appreciates the public's patience and cooperation.
Motorists will be detoured. Alternate routes should be used, such as Route 73 (Canaan Ridge Road), route 78 (Scenic Road) via Route 72 or 73 (Midland Road and Frangipani Road).
V.I. Paving will be placing two sections of box culverts across the roadway. Commissioner Callwood appreciates the public's patience and cooperation.
CREEK BULKHEAD CLOSED OVERNIGHT
Sept. 29, 2001- In an effort to keep the Creek bulkhead clear of parked cars and items left there unattended, the V.I. Port Authority will close the gates from 8 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. starting Oct. 1.
People with vehicles and goods remaining on the Creek bulkhead are asked to remove them before the prohibition begins. Those who don't, will have their vehicles booted or ticketed.
The area, used mainly by barges, ferries carrying tour groups and other commercial vessels, is surrounded by a chain link fence.
People with vehicles and goods remaining on the Creek bulkhead are asked to remove them before the prohibition begins. Those who don't, will have their vehicles booted or ticketed.
The area, used mainly by barges, ferries carrying tour groups and other commercial vessels, is surrounded by a chain link fence.
