July 23, 2001 – Three local food purveyors are getting national exposure this week and will again in mid-August as the Food Network, also known as Food TV, focuses on the Virgin Islands in its "Food Finds" feature.
Cheryl Miller of Taste of Paradise, Sandra Marie Davis of Grandma Sandy's Island Cookie Co, and Jacquel Dawson of The Bush Tea Project share the program in footage taped in the Virgin Islands in March.
The episode featuring the Virgin Islands was scheduled to air Monday at 10 p.m. and then three hours later, at 1 a.m. Tuesday. However, it will be back again on Monday, Aug. 13, at 1 p.m. and Saturday, Aug. 18, at 1 p.m., according to Miller, who sent out e-mail advisories over the weekend to be sure friends and associates on the mainland wouldn't miss the show, which features not only her but her red pepper puppet Hot Lips.
The Food Network "filmed 10 hours of Hot Lips and me in the kitchen cooking Caribbean Sunburn hot sauce and hot Mango Momma Jam," she said. "Now they are airing the best six minutes on your local Food Network cable channel — same one as Emeril's on."
However, while the Food Network is carried by Innovative Cable on St. Croix as Channel 57, it does not air on St. Thomas and St. John. "So we will not be able to watch it here," Miller said in her e-mail. "I await a taped copy. Now, you all enjoy and laugh for me!"
The network site's promo for the Food Finds – Virgin Islands show reads: "First stop is on the island of St. John, to meet Cheryl Miller, best known for her fiery champion hot sauce, Caribbean Sunburn Hotter Sauce. On St. Thomas, Grandma Sandy bakes homemade cookies and we visit Bush Tea."
When the location filming was being planned, a Food TV researcher had said the Virgin Islands program would air "toward the end of April."
"Food Finds," now in its second season, "tracks down your long-lost favorites" with host Sandra Pinckney visiting "small-town shops, mom-and-pop stores and local vendors that take pride in making specialty foods the old-fashioned way." The program features food enterprises that have web sites, as all three of the Virgin Islands women's businesses do. In connection with the airing of the segments, information from the sites is posted on the Food TV site.
At the start of this year, the researcher said, Food Network was reaching more than 54 million cable subscriber households, in the United States, Canada, Australia, Korea, Thailand and the Philippines. The Food TV web site generated more than 43 million page views last year, more than double the preceding year.
For background on the three entrepreneurs, see the earlier Source story, For background on the three entrepreneurs, see the earlier Source story, "Three cable network 'Food Finds' are in the V.I."

July 23, 2001 – Ten grocery stores on St. Thomas and St. Croix have been fined a total of $56,482. for a number of violations including selling outdated products, not posting prices and scanner discrepancies.
A release from the Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs Monday said the following stores had been fined:
On St. Croix:
D&J
Eden Trading Company
Morgans Enterprises
Quality Grocery
Stop & Save
Schooner Bay
Super Shopper Market
On St. Thomas and St. Croix:
Kmart
Pueblo Supermarket
Plaza Extra
A release from DLCA said the fines were part of an ongoing effort to bring stores into compliance with consumer protection laws. The public is asked to report any violations to DLCA's Division of Consumer Protection on St. Thomas at 774-3130 or at 773-2226 on St. Croix.

July 23, 2001 — Two majority bloc senators are floating legislation that aims to undo efforts by Gov. Charles W. Turnbull to cut costs through eliminating three government holidays.
Sens. Alicia "Chucky" Hansen and Celestino White are seeking to revive Organic Act Day (observed on the third Monday in June), Hurricane Supplication Day (the fourth Monday in July) and Hurricane Thanksgiving Day (the third Monday in October) as official territorial holidays.
In December 1999, Turnbull approved legislation sponsored by the majority bloc in the 23rd Legislature that changed all three holidays to Sunday observances. Hansen and White’s bill would "extinguish" the governor’s discretion over holidays that fall on a Sunday and move their observance to Monday.
In October of 1999, Turnbull and then-Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt signed a memorandum of understanding that aimed to guide the territory back to economic health. One thing the memorandum called for was the elimination of five V.I. holidays.
The post auditor then, Campbell Malone, estimated that eliminating the five paid holidays would save V.I. taxpayers $2 million a year. While Turnbull dropped the Monday Organic Act Day, Hurricane Supplication Day and Hurricane Thanksgiving Day observances, he kept Easter Monday and Transfer Day as paid days off.

July 23, 2001 – Corvin Modeste, 27, currently of St. Thomas, has pleaded guilty in District Court to 27 counts of smuggling illegal immigrants into the United States.
The charges stemmed from an incident in February in which Modeste and an accomplice, Ikemba Ira Alexander Barry, worked together to transport nine Syrian citizens from Sint Maarten to St. Thomas and then tried to get them to Puerto Rico.
Barry, 22, also a resident of St. Thomas, pleaded guilty in June to eight counts of smuggling illegal immigrants.
The nine Syrians traveled from Sint Maarten on Feb. 17 in an open outboard vessel. They were met the next day on St. John by Modeste, who then accompanied them to St. Tnomas on a ferry, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The nine men spent the night at an apartment Barry had rented on St. Thomas.
Modeste said the next day he rented a small power boat in Red Hook that Barry had agreed to drive to Puerto Rico. However, the boat broke down between St. Thomas and Puerto Rico, and Barry and the illegal immigrants were taken into custody.
The maximum sentence for each offense to which the two have pleaded guilty is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Modeste and Barry have been released on bail awaiting sentencing. No date for sentencing has been set, the release said.

The fun day at Morningstar is to raise funds for other projects, such as island signage, island beautification and an exit survey for visitors. There will be a $1 shuttle bus starting at noon from Havensight Mall to the beach where admission is free.
Aside from games and dancing to P'your Passion and Dr. Liburd, there's music by James Anderson and Carl Freeman, with disk jockey Tom Hightree and emcee Tara Richardson. There's an art show by local artists, food and drink by many island restaurants for sale all day, and sand castle and sand candle instruction by local candlemaker Jason Budsen. The party lasts until sunset.

July 23, 2001 – A "Touch of Island Hospitality" fun day will start at noon Sunday at Marriott Morningstar Beach, featuring everything from beach bed-racing to a gourmet bite from Banana Tree Grille or the Old Stone Farmhouse.
The event is the brainchild of the hospitality focus group of the St. Thomas-St. John Hotel and Tourism Association and the V. I. Tourism Department. The group was spawned late last year to bolster tourism on the islands. It was founded by Carter Donovan, then manager of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Jayne Hillner, general manager of Marriott Frenchman's Reef Hotel, and David Yamada, general manager of The Renaissance Grand Beach Resort.
The group, which includes professionals from restaurants, taxis, and retail outlets, had education as its first priority. Earlier this year it held a five-day workshop conducted by American Express, "Service Excellence," which more than 500 hospitality employees attended.
The fun day at Morningstar is to raise funds for other projects, such as island signage, island beautification and an exit survey for visitors. There will be a $1 shuttle bus starting at noon from Havensight Mall to the beach where admission is free.
Aside from games and dancing to P'Your Passion and Dr. Liburd, there's music by James Anderson and Carl Freeman, with disc jockey Tom Hightree and emcee Tara Richardson. There's an art show by local artists, food and drink by many island restaurants for sale all day, and sand castle and sand candle instruction by local candlemaker Jason Budsen. The party lasts until sunset.

July 23, 2001 – The hospitality industry is hosting a beach party for the public Sunday afternoon at Marriott Morning Star Resort that promises more fun and games than your typical tourist encounters.
The "Touch of Island Hospitality" fun day, from noon to sunset, will feature bed racing and luggage lugging contests, lessons in making sand castles, gourmet bites from such restaurants as Banana Tree Grille and the Old Stone Farmhouse, and more.
The event is being presented by the Hospitality Focus Group of the St. Thomas-St. John Hotel and Tourism Association with the V.I. Tourism Department. The group was founded last year by Carter Donovan, then general manager of the Ritz-Carlton, Jayne Hillner, general manager of Marriott Frenchman's Reef, and David Yamada, general manager of The Renaissance Grand Beach Resort, to bolster tourism in the islands.
The focus group, which includes professionals from the restaurant, taxi, retail, visitor attraction, public safety and arts sectors, made education its first priority. Earlier this year it presented a series of daylong American Express "Service Excellence" workshops which attracted more than 500 hospitality-sector workers. "Interest was so strong that it was decided to hold this training on a quarterly basis," a release from the hotel association states.
One goal of the Morning Star fun day is to raise funds for future "Service Excellence" training, island beautification, better signage to help tourists find their way around, and an exit survey of departing visitors. A second goal is to build spirit and a sense of purpose among those working in the hospitality sector.
There will be music from noon to 3 p.m. by Carl Freeman and James Anderson with deejay Tom Hightree and emcee Tahra Richardson, from 3 to 4 p.m. by Dr. Bernard Liburd, and from 4 to 6 p.m. by P'Your Passion. From 1 to 3 p.m. are the Hospitality Beach Olympics competitions — beach bed making and racing, a flipper race with cocktail trays, a luggage-toting race in which runners must keep a coconut between their knees, an "Iguana Toss," "Landscaper Hole Digging" and "Mango in the Nylon."
At 2 p.m., Jason Budsan will demonstrate sand castle and sand candle making. An art and craft exhibit that will be up all day will feature the works of local artists and artisans, including paintings, photography, ceramics and glasswork.
Admission to the beach party is free. Food and drinks will be available for purchase, as will tickets for a raffle of prizes including hotel stays, boat rides, dining out and artwork. Throughout the afternoon there will be a $1 shuttle bus running between the Havensight Shopping Mall, where ample parking is available, and the beach.
Tourists are welcome, too, of course.

July 23, 2001 – Two local sportfishing charter boats have been playing host for a week to anglers from around the country who are participating in Marlin University, a travel and teaching excursion sponsored by Marlin Magazine.
"I'm having a wonderful time — learned more in six hours today that I have in 10 years of fishing, David Garton, a real estate broker from Vail, Colo., said. "They answered every question I had, and I've got five pages of notes."
Garton, who fished aboard Capt. Eddie Morrison's Marlin Prince, paraded down the dock walkway at American Yacht Harbor playfully wearing a crown of monofilament fishing line. "He hasn't quite got the wiring technique down yet," his companion, Marlin Prince mate Shawn Williams, kidded.
Garton and six other anglers, from such states as New Mexico, Illinois and Florida, are taking part in the July 19-24 event. The idea came from Debbie Snow, head of Marlin Magazine's travel department.
"The whole idea of Marlin University is to combine sport with travel in an opportunity that connects with our readers," magazine executive editor David Ritchie said. The magazine is one of 13 produced by World Publications in Winter Park, Fla. The others include Caribbean Travel & Life, Sport Fishing and Windsurfing. "Tuition" is $5,000 per angler, all-inclusive except for airfare.
The sun was barely up as the fishing students headed down to the docks each of the four fishing days of their week. They "started with some chair techniques in the morning," Ritchie said, then it was off to the fishing grounds. Along with Marlin Prince, Capt. Bill McCauley's Prowler and a Florida boat, Vintage, with Capt. Dave Noling at the helm, were used as classrooms at sea. On shore, the anglers have been taking in seminars at the Wyndham Sugar Bay Resort on wiring, rigging lures and bait-and-switch tactics.
This is the first year for the program. The first two teaching trips were in Costa Rica. "They were focused on sailfish, and we caught up to 40 a day," Ritchie said. "St. Thomas is renowned for a good blue marlin bite in the summer. So, here we're focusing on marlin and heavier tackle."
The final outing of this first four-trip series is an excursion to Venezuela in September. Ritchie said he hopes to bring the university back to St. Thomas again next year.

The Virgin Islands Housing Authority's Board of Commissioners will meet at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, July 25, at the Central Offices of the Authority in Estate Anna's Retreat, St. Thomas.

I have been working at the U.S. Navy Underwater Tracking Range on St. Croix for the past 12 years. All of us who work at the range have been following the events on Vieques with great concern. I would like to share some personal observations with you and your readers in response to some of the recently published editorials and news articles concerning the on-going situation on the island of Vieques.
The problem has gone far beyond reality and reason. Nationalism is a powerful, but sometimes unthinking, force. I think it is unfortunate that all of the emotion and rhetoric initially generated came from people who ordinarily do not have any direct relationship with the people of Vieques.
Generated by a political minority from the "big" island that has historically and routinely ignored the real problems of the Viequenos and Culebranos. The addition of CNN, the political clergy, and the posturing of celebrity opportunists (whose personal agendas can only be wondered about), made the current situation inevitable.
The accidental death of civilian guard David Sanes became the focal point and rallying cry for the movement. The unfortunate fact is that Sanes’ tragic death was avoidable; if he had only obeyed the established safety procedures that he was, in part, responsible to enforce. He was outside smoking a cigarette and watching the excitement during the "hot run" and paid the ultimate price for his poor judgement. It is noteworthy that four other civilians working inside the OP-1 safety bunker, suffered only minor injuries.
But be that as it may, I must very reluctantly agree with the consensus position that the time has come for the U.S. Navy to leave Vieques — gracefully and expeditiously as possible. Any chance of reasonable compromise is long gone.
The recent battle group has sailed away with lessened readiness. The current stream of stateside political and social opportunists have gone away. Either back to Hollywood or to federal facilities. In the words of comedian George Carlin, "Why are these people always part of the problem and never part of the solution?"
And, now, it is also time for the Puerto Rican demonstrators to back down from their confrontational tactics in order that the U.S. Navy can begin its orderly "withdrawal." It will take time but it will happen.
However, there are a number of issues that will loom large subsequent to the Navy’s "withdrawal" and no one has really begun to address them.
For those who don’t know or choose not to know; the Vieques training area has been the centerpiece of an extensive training area which extends more than two hundred miles North and South of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
The Atlantic Fleet Weapons Training Facility (AFWTF) headquartered on the Roosevelt Roads Naval Station operates three ranges. The Inner Range, or Vieques Island, the Outer Range comprising the offshore areas for surface and aerial combat training, and the St. Croix Underwater Tracking range for Anti-Submarine Warfare exercises.
The total scope of the training evolutions conducted within these three areas is simply mind boggling. Many of these operations can be conducted in piecemeal fashion in the open ocean and/or at other ranges. This option is not cost-effective or realistically coherent but it is doable. It is the Vieques range that is unique. And the possibility of conducting all of the necessary work-ups in a unified training area is what keeps the Navy here.
As the Navy begins – and has begun – to explore alternative solutions and identifies other areas in which to conduct this necessary training, the ships of the Atlantic Fleet Carrier Battle Groups will no longer ply the Caribbean waters of the Puerto Rican Operations Areas.
As to the potential/eventual consequences of that, please consider the following.
Without the Vieques range, the Navy’s concept of "one-stop shopping" training evolutions will dissolve. The cost of bringing the Fleet to the Puerto Rico Operating Areas without being able to complete the full training cycle is prohibitive. Without Vieques, the other ranges will be closed as well. Without the ranges, there will be no real purpose in maintaining and keeping active the physically largest U.S. naval base in the world.
Base Reduction and Closure (BRAC) is always a DOD priority funding consideration and the Navy Station Roosevelt Roads is rapidly moving up the list. It is very likely Roosevelt Roads will be closed. This base reduction and closure will cost about 2,000 civilian jobs between Puerto Rico, Vieques, and the Virgin Islands.
That is the direct cost. The indirect cost is far greater and will be handed down to the contractors, purveyors, etc. who provide to much of the military’s needs.
If the base closes, more than 1,000 military personnel – Navy, Army, Air Force, and Coast Guard – will be transferred. Many of these men and women live off-base and are major contributors to Puerto Rico’s infrastructure. These jobs will not be replaced.
If and when the Roosevelt Roads Naval Station closes it is possible that the co-existing Southern Command may be forced to reconsider it’s present location in Puerto Rico and move their command headquarters to a more politically/militarily hospitable climate. End result? Many more civilian and military jobs are lost to other sites.
President George W. Bush has vowed to end the use of the Vieques bombing/gunnery range. However, there is no inherent agreement in place to turn the land over to the government of Puerto Rico. The range is federal property and may not be released without the consent of the U.S. Congress. The "wilderness option" has already been proposed in Congressional hearings.
There is no inherent agreement to environmentally clean the range. If there is no exchange of ownership, then there is no requirement to sanitize. The cost of such land renewal is staggering and funding is not identified. The total economic impact of possible base closure to Puerto Rico is substantial and potentially devastating to the Fajardo, Ceiba, and Humacao communities.
The impact to the U.S. Virgin Islands will be felt somewhat differently. If the St. Croix Underwater Tracking Range in Frederiksted is closed, 30 families will be seeking re-employment. Add the associated radar stations on St. George Hill on St. Croix and Crown Mountain on St. Thomas for another 12 families.
But it’s not simply jobs. For all three islands, take heed: No training ranges equals no ships equals no crews on liberty equals a lessened economy for all.
No one picketed the Teddy Roosevelt Battle Group when they were anchored outside or moored in the harbors of St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix with 7,000 crew members in for R&R.
We welcome them! Unfortunately, the major effect of base closure would weigh in against St. Croix.
I know that all of the foregoing is a most pessimistic view. My hope is that it is just that and a different resolution is made. However, it is a realistic possibility and needs to be considered. Base closure is a difficult issue everywhere. Most states argue and lobby against closure in order to maintain their regional economies.
The 50 States have senators and representatives arguing their case at every turn. Here in the Virgin Islands we have only a Congressional Delegate to turn to. Delegate Donna Christian Christiansen was early to condemn the continuation of the Vieques training exercises even though those events have never adversely affected our islands.
The Navy wants to remain the in Virgin Islands. The current AFWTF commanding officer, Capt. Steve Shegrud, has quietly spent huge amounts of time and effort in continuing Navy outreach programs in the Virgin Islands. The list of these contributions is long, but local business’s in Frederiksted can remember the volunteer teams of Navy personnel cleaning the damage of Hurricane Lenny or perhaps Sen. Donald "Ducks" Cole will vouch for the Navy’s effo rts in behalf of the local football program.
Certainly the people of Vieques should remember the levels of support extended to them following Hurricane Georges and all the preceding storms. Along with these community projects, the Navy is making every effort to keep the Underwater Tracking Range of St. Croix alive.
The Underwater Range is the largest of its kind worldwide and is unique to the fleet’s training requirements; providing real world operational conditions available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
With the addition of some support facilities, the St. Croix Range can stand alone without the Roosevelt Roads Naval Station. In fact, in order to remain open, several job creating options exist in the near future. St. Croix has developed harbor structures, available land on which to develop additional facilities, and importantly, heavy airlift capability at Henry Rohlsen Airport.
It is time for Gov. Charles Turnbull, Delegate Christensen, the Legislature, and our newspapers to stand for their electorate and begin the lobbying and support process that will keep the St. Croix Underwater Tracking Range and associated radar sites at work.
It is time for Virgin Islanders to begin to think proactively about what we can offer the U.S. Navy to the benefit of all. Regardless of your point of view about Vieques, the sons and daughters of the Virgin Islands who volunteer to serve their country are continually sent "in harm's way."
The quality of training provided here in the Virgin Islands will keep them safe.