The St. Croix Office of Management and Budget's Public Assistance Office has moved from 14B Caravelle Arcade to 1131 King Street, Christiansted.
The office was previously occupied by the Lt. Governor's Office of Banking and Insurance.
The telephone number is 778-8925 and the fax number is 773-1763.

The Government Employees' Retirement System invites members over 30 years of age to participate in a Pre-retirement Planning Workshop at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, July 25, in the GERS Conference Room at 3005 Orange Grove, St. Croix.
Learn about your benefits that include Social Security, legal rights, health insurance coverage, system benefits and more.
For additional information or to pre-register call Mrs Ann Forbes-Samuel at 773-5480. Seating is limited so register early. Pre-registration deadline is Fridy, July 20.

The Government Employees' Retirement System invites members over 30 years of age to participate in a Pre-retirement Workshop at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, July 25, in the GERS Conference Room, 3005 Orange Grove, St. Croix.
Learn about your benefits including Social Security, legal rights, health insurance coverage, system benefits and more.
For additional information or to pre-register call Mrs. Ann Forbes-Samuel at 773-5480. Seating is limited so register early. Pre-registration is Friday, July 20.

The V.I. Port Authority Governing Board will hold its monthly meeting at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, July 19, in the Conference Room of the Administration Building on St. Thomas.
For more information contact Shirley L. Smith at 774-1629 ext. 640.

The V.I. Port Authority Governing Board will hold its monthly meeting at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, July 18, in the Conference Room of the Administration Building on St. Thomas.
For more information contact Shirley L. Smith at 774-1620 ext. 640.

The Governing Board of the V.I. Water and Power Authority will meet at 9 a.m. on Friday, July 20, in the Conference Room of the St. Thomas Executive Office.
For more information contact Patricia Blake Simmons at 774-3552.

The Governing Board of the V.I. Water and Power Authority will meet at 9 a.m. on Friday, July 20, in the Conference Room of the St. Thomas Executive Office.
For more information contact Patricia Blake Simmonds at 774-3552.

July 14, 2001 – Police Commissioner Franz A. Christian Sr. advises citizens on the island of St. John who wish to transfer ownership of a vehicle that they must obtain lien clearance from the Lieutenant Governor's Office. A representative of the Lieutenant Governor's Office is located in the office of the St. John Administrator in Cruz Bay.
For further information, contact the Lieutenant Governor's representative at 776-6737 or 776- 6484. Vehicles will not be transferred without the proper documentation.

July 13, 2001 – Sen. Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg's animal anti-cruelty bill got shot out of the saddle once again Thursday, as colleagues told him it was not scheduled for a Friday hearing of the Rules Committee after all and had, in fact, been "misplaced."
Donastorg, with the support of thousands of concerned citizens, has been trying to get the measure increasing penalties for animal abuse and neglect passed since the 23rd Legislature. It has gone from committee to committee repeatedly, only to wind up being "held in committee for more study," and never heard from again. However, at the end of May, the bill was approved by the Government Operations, Planning and Environmental Protection Committee and forwarded to the Rules Committee, seen by observers as a good sign.
It was in Thursday's Government Operations Committee meeting on St. Thomas that the matter surfaced. The meeting had been notable for its lack of discord, until Donastorg mentioned that his bill was on the Rules Committee agenda for its scheduled meeting Friday on St. Croix. The Government Operations chair, Sen. Donald "Ducks" Cole, immediately replied that he thought it had been taken off the agenda – which came as news to Donastorg.
When Donastorg further questioned Cole and the Rules Committee chair, Sen. Carlton Dowe, who is a member of the Government Operations Committee, it was stated that the bill had been "misplaced."
Donastorg said he knew of several people who would be flying to St. Croix, or already had done so, for the Friday hearing. Dowe replied that they could bring their airline tickets to his office, implying the possibility of reimbursement.
The bill, which went before the Rules Committee on July 6, would make first-degree animal abuse a felony punishable by a fine of not less than $1,000 and up to five years in jail. Second-degree animal neglect would be a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $500 and up to100 hours of community service. The measure defines second-degree neglect as failing to give an animal adequate care and has many other provisions intended to protect animals.
At the July 6 hearing, Sen. Adelbert Bryan, a consistent opponent of the bill, called it a "farce" and said nobody could tell him how to feed his animals.
In meetings last year, a petition with more than 3,000 signatures of animal advocates supporting the measure was presented to the senators at meetings on St. Thomas and St. Croix.
Christine O'Keefe, a former Humane Society of St. Thomas board member and animal rights activist, voiced her concern Friday after hearing of the "misplacement" of the bill: "The opposition to passing the animal cruelty bill is just another troubling indication of our territory's lack of understanding," she said, of the relationship "between cruelty to animals and the proven link to cruelty to children, and, ultimately, adult human beings."
Countless studies "document that child abusers, wife beaters and mass murderers all started by abusing animals," she added. "When is the V.I. going to move out of this era of ignorance and self-sabotage and take the time to understand the root of its tragic problems?"
Claudia Laborde, immediate past president of the Humane Society board, said, "We have only to look at the number of domestic abuse and rape cases that are running rampant on these islands to realize how important it is to pass this bill. Law enforcement studies across the United States have consistently found that violent acts committee on women and children began with the perpetrator abusing and/or killing animals. If we care about this community, if we want to put a stop to human violence, then let’s make sure that our Legislature passes this bill."

July 13, 2001 – It was nearly 3 a.m. Friday when the Finance Committee, going into its third day of kneading and pulling, resolved what to do with the governor's $47.2 million supplemental appropriations legislation.
A breakdown of the allotments from the St. Thomas session was not available as the regular workday began Friday morning. The bill was scheduled to be heard Friday on St. Croix at a Rules Committee meeting.
The process had started Wednesday, when the committee heard testimony far into the night from administration officials defending their allotments. That meeting was continued to 4 p.m. Thursday, delayed until 7 p.m. Thursday, started about 7:35 p.m. Thursday, recessed at 8 p.m., and scheduled to resume at 9 p.m. Although there were no more announced delays, the session did not resume until after midnight Friday.
During the abbreviated early evening bout, the committee approved a bill providing early retirement benefits for certain hazardous duty Water and Power Authority employees.
Laurence Bryan, Government Employees Retirement System administrator, had objected to the measure when it came up in Wednesday's hearing, saying it would "bankrupt" the system. The Finance Committee chair, Sen. Alicia "Chucky" Hansen, added an amendment to the bill appropriating $1.9 million for its funding, which Bernice Turnbull, Finance commissioner, had said was available in the General Fund.
Hansen thanked her colleagues at about 3 a.m. Friday and called it a day, or morning.