Lottery dealers and the playing public is informed that drawing #542 scheduled for Friday, July 6, has been changed to Tuesday, July 10.
Lottery Executive Director Austin Andrews apologizes for any inconvenience this change may cause the public.
V.I. LOTTERY DRAWING RESCHEDULED
Lottery dealers and the playing public is informed that the date for the $542 drawing that was due July 6, has been changed to Tuesday, July 10.
Lottery Executive Director Austin Andrews apologizes for any inconvenience this change may cause the public.
Lottery Executive Director Austin Andrews apologizes for any inconvenience this change may cause the public.
V.I. LOTTERY DRAWING RESCHEDULED
The lottery dealers and playing public is informed that due to the July 3 & 4 holidays, drawing #542 is rescheduled from July 6, to July 10.
V.I. Lottery Executive Director Austin Andrews apologizes for any inconvenience this change may cause the public.
V.I. Lottery Executive Director Austin Andrews apologizes for any inconvenience this change may cause the public.
V.I. DEMOCRATIC PARTY QUARTERLY MEETING
The V.I. Democratic Party quarterly meeting will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday, June 30, at Palm Court Harbor View Hotel.
For more information call the State Chair's office at 774-9697.
For more information call the State Chair's office at 774-9697.
NADIR RESIDENTS SAY DRAINAGE PLAN WON'T WORK
June 26, 2001 – Conflict at a town meeting in Nadir Monday night came down to what could be a choice between protecting the residents of St. Thomas's worst flood plain and protecting pond apples in the nearby mangroves.
After hearing Nadir residents say an $18 million U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plan to channel rain water out of the area to prevent flooding won't work, Sen. Norma Pickard-Samuel, who had called the meeting, said she will press the Planning and Natural Resources Department to allow water that collects in Nadir to drain through nearby protected mangroves.
Corps of Engineers and Public Works Department officials said Planning and Natural Resources would not permit that to happen because of the environmentally sensitive pond apples that thrive in the mangroves and grow at the mouth of the Nadir gut.
The Corps of Engineers, in conjunction with Public Works, is planning to start construction within the next year on a long-delayed project to prevent flooding in Nadir. The project involves making the gut that runs through Nadir five feet deeper and three times wider, and channeling water from the gut to a drainage pipe six feet in diameter that would carry the water under the Clinton E. Phipps Race Track and out to the lagoon.
The plan also includes rebuilding the infamous "bridge to nowhere" and connecting it to Turpentine Run, which is to be elevated 10 feet at its intersection with the Bovoni road to connect with the bridge roadway.
Officials say they expect it will take six months to settle land issues with some residents who will lose part of their yards and driveways, and with the owners of a trucking business which will have to relocate. The Nadir Esso service station will have to be torn down, and that also will take time, Rodney Platzke, Public Works construction program manager, said.
It is expected to take another three to six months to get the Coastal Zone Management permits to begin construction, Platzke said, meaning construction on the project would not start for at least another nine months.
Many of the approximately 40 residents attending the three-hour-plus meeting called by Pickard-Samuel at the Nadir basketball court Monday night noted that the neighborhood has dealt with severe flooding after rain storms and hurricanes for over 30 years. Many were adamant the Corps of Engineers plan won't work. Raising the roadway 10 feet and building culverts below sea level, they said, will mean storm water will concentrate the flooding in their neighborhood.
Some residents were also unhappy that the project would mean relocating the basketball court and playground to Frydenhoj or near the Humane Society of St. Thomas site.
Alpheus Bailey, a 32-year Nadir resident, said engineers and government officials appear unaware that the main source of flooding is rainwater coming from surrounding hills and roadways which converge in the neighborhood. When the gut overflows and the lagoon backs up, he said, the water gets sent right back to Nadir, flooding the houses surrounding the basketball court and horse track. Widening the gut and running a drainage pipe into the lagoon will not solve the problem, he said.
Many at the meeting raised concerns that raising the roadway 10 feet to meet the "bridge to nowhere" would create a virtual pool in the neighborhood and flood out some residents.
"You are going to spend millions of dollars building culverts below sea level, and it is going to back up. It's not going to work," Steven Thompson, who grew up in Nadir, said.
Marvette Peterson, a longtime resident, said she has seen raging flood waters carry dead animal carcasses, furniture and a woman through the neighborhood. She said widening the gut would do little to limit flooding during storms.
"No culvert is going to save us from getting flooded," she said. "You are going to drown us out."
Public Works Commissioner Wayne Callwood and an engineer from the Army Corps insisted the plan will reduce the amount of flooding and can handle flood waters up to a "25-year-storm" — one of an intensity that historically occurs only an average of once in 25 years. (Hurricanes Hugo and Marilyn, which occurred six years apart, were considered "100-year storms.")
"It will work. We are going to make the gut three times wider and five feet deeper. This can handle up to a 25-year rain storm," Michael Shultz, Corps of Engineers civil engineer, said.
But residents at the meeting weren't buying it.
Bailey said government officials and engineers need to come up with a better plan and consult with residents before beginning construction. He and other Nadir residents chastised the engineers and officials for not consulting residents before drafting the plan, and for not visiting the area during a flood period to get an idea of where the flooding occurs.
"We live here, and we are trying to tell you what is wrong, but you are not listening," Bailey said.
Some residents called for rain water to be channeled through the nearby mangroves and out to sea. Shultz agreed that would be a simpler and more effective plan. However, he added, Planning and Natural Resources will not allow it, because of the damage it could cause to pond apples that thrive in the mangroves.
"Fish and Wildlife would not allow construction that would affect pond apple growth," Shultz said.
"If you are telling me that the best way is to go into the mangroves, then we need to go to Washington or to Fish and Wildlife and get it done," Pickard-Samuel said at that point. "People are more important than mangroves or pond apples."
After the meeting, she said she would be contacting Planning and Natural Resources Commissioner Dean Plaskett about the possibility of channeling the runoff through the mangroves.
Callwood said Planning and Natural Resources environmental regulations that protect pond apples and the mangroves themselves have Public Works in a bind as far as maintaining the Nadir gut. Pond apples growing near the mouth of the gut prevent his department from effectively cleaning out the channel that drains the water into the sea, he said.
"We are in a 'Catch-22' because we are supposed to maintain the gut, but they won't let us clean the gut," he said.
After hearing Nadir residents say an $18 million U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plan to channel rain water out of the area to prevent flooding won't work, Sen. Norma Pickard-Samuel, who had called the meeting, said she will press the Planning and Natural Resources Department to allow water that collects in Nadir to drain through nearby protected mangroves.
Corps of Engineers and Public Works Department officials said Planning and Natural Resources would not permit that to happen because of the environmentally sensitive pond apples that thrive in the mangroves and grow at the mouth of the Nadir gut.
The Corps of Engineers, in conjunction with Public Works, is planning to start construction within the next year on a long-delayed project to prevent flooding in Nadir. The project involves making the gut that runs through Nadir five feet deeper and three times wider, and channeling water from the gut to a drainage pipe six feet in diameter that would carry the water under the Clinton E. Phipps Race Track and out to the lagoon.
The plan also includes rebuilding the infamous "bridge to nowhere" and connecting it to Turpentine Run, which is to be elevated 10 feet at its intersection with the Bovoni road to connect with the bridge roadway.
Officials say they expect it will take six months to settle land issues with some residents who will lose part of their yards and driveways, and with the owners of a trucking business which will have to relocate. The Nadir Esso service station will have to be torn down, and that also will take time, Rodney Platzke, Public Works construction program manager, said.
It is expected to take another three to six months to get the Coastal Zone Management permits to begin construction, Platzke said, meaning construction on the project would not start for at least another nine months.
Many of the approximately 40 residents attending the three-hour-plus meeting called by Pickard-Samuel at the Nadir basketball court Monday night noted that the neighborhood has dealt with severe flooding after rain storms and hurricanes for over 30 years. Many were adamant the Corps of Engineers plan won't work. Raising the roadway 10 feet and building culverts below sea level, they said, will mean storm water will concentrate the flooding in their neighborhood.
Some residents were also unhappy that the project would mean relocating the basketball court and playground to Frydenhoj or near the Humane Society of St. Thomas site.
Alpheus Bailey, a 32-year Nadir resident, said engineers and government officials appear unaware that the main source of flooding is rainwater coming from surrounding hills and roadways which converge in the neighborhood. When the gut overflows and the lagoon backs up, he said, the water gets sent right back to Nadir, flooding the houses surrounding the basketball court and horse track. Widening the gut and running a drainage pipe into the lagoon will not solve the problem, he said.
Many at the meeting raised concerns that raising the roadway 10 feet to meet the "bridge to nowhere" would create a virtual pool in the neighborhood and flood out some residents.
"You are going to spend millions of dollars building culverts below sea level, and it is going to back up. It's not going to work," Steven Thompson, who grew up in Nadir, said.
Marvette Peterson, a longtime resident, said she has seen raging flood waters carry dead animal carcasses, furniture and a woman through the neighborhood. She said widening the gut would do little to limit flooding during storms.
"No culvert is going to save us from getting flooded," she said. "You are going to drown us out."
Public Works Commissioner Wayne Callwood and an engineer from the Army Corps insisted the plan will reduce the amount of flooding and can handle flood waters up to a "25-year-storm" — one of an intensity that historically occurs only an average of once in 25 years. (Hurricanes Hugo and Marilyn, which occurred six years apart, were considered "100-year storms.")
"It will work. We are going to make the gut three times wider and five feet deeper. This can handle up to a 25-year rain storm," Michael Shultz, Corps of Engineers civil engineer, said.
But residents at the meeting weren't buying it.
Bailey said government officials and engineers need to come up with a better plan and consult with residents before beginning construction. He and other Nadir residents chastised the engineers and officials for not consulting residents before drafting the plan, and for not visiting the area during a flood period to get an idea of where the flooding occurs.
"We live here, and we are trying to tell you what is wrong, but you are not listening," Bailey said.
Some residents called for rain water to be channeled through the nearby mangroves and out to sea. Shultz agreed that would be a simpler and more effective plan. However, he added, Planning and Natural Resources will not allow it, because of the damage it could cause to pond apples that thrive in the mangroves.
"Fish and Wildlife would not allow construction that would affect pond apple growth," Shultz said.
"If you are telling me that the best way is to go into the mangroves, then we need to go to Washington or to Fish and Wildlife and get it done," Pickard-Samuel said at that point. "People are more important than mangroves or pond apples."
After the meeting, she said she would be contacting Planning and Natural Resources Commissioner Dean Plaskett about the possibility of channeling the runoff through the mangroves.
Callwood said Planning and Natural Resources environmental regulations that protect pond apples and the mangroves themselves have Public Works in a bind as far as maintaining the Nadir gut. Pond apples growing near the mouth of the gut prevent his department from effectively cleaning out the channel that drains the water into the sea, he said.
"We are in a 'Catch-22' because we are supposed to maintain the gut, but they won't let us clean the gut," he said.
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MISSING OFFICER’S CAR FOUND BURNED IN BUSH
June 26, 2001 — Police on Monday found the burnt-out vehicle of Cpl. Wendell "Lazee" Williams, a colleague missing on St. Croix for almost two weeks.
Officers have been searching on St. Croix for several days for clues to Williams’ disappearance. On Monday afternoon, an officer discovered the burned hulk of Williams’ black Suzuki Vitara in the bush near Castle Burke. St. Croix Deputy Police Chief Novelle Francis said that spent shell casings of a high-powered weapon were also found in the vicinity of the vehicle.
With the discovery of the vehicle, Francis said, the investigation is being intensified.
"We have moved from a missing person report to a criminal investigation," Francis said.
Williams, 47, an 18-year veteran of the force, has been missing since June 14. At a press conference early Monday, police officials said they have alerted officers to use extreme caution while on duty in light of the Williams case and the shooting of an officer on St. Thomas early in June.
Williams, of Peter's Rest on St. Croix, is described as a black male, about 5 feet 9 inches tall, weighing 150 pounds. Family members last saw him when he and his sister drove another relative to the Henry R. Rohlsen Airport.
Anyone with information about Williams is asked to call the Criminal Investigation Bureau at 778-4950 or emergency number 911.
Officers have been searching on St. Croix for several days for clues to Williams’ disappearance. On Monday afternoon, an officer discovered the burned hulk of Williams’ black Suzuki Vitara in the bush near Castle Burke. St. Croix Deputy Police Chief Novelle Francis said that spent shell casings of a high-powered weapon were also found in the vicinity of the vehicle.
With the discovery of the vehicle, Francis said, the investigation is being intensified.
"We have moved from a missing person report to a criminal investigation," Francis said.
Williams, 47, an 18-year veteran of the force, has been missing since June 14. At a press conference early Monday, police officials said they have alerted officers to use extreme caution while on duty in light of the Williams case and the shooting of an officer on St. Thomas early in June.
Williams, of Peter's Rest on St. Croix, is described as a black male, about 5 feet 9 inches tall, weighing 150 pounds. Family members last saw him when he and his sister drove another relative to the Henry R. Rohlsen Airport.
Anyone with information about Williams is asked to call the Criminal Investigation Bureau at 778-4950 or emergency number 911.
QUITO'S TIME SWEET BUT SHORT AT REGGAE NIGHT
June 25, 2001 – It was a rousing reggae night at the Winston Wells Ball Field on Sunday, but previously unannounced acts that went too long prohibited the headliners, Tortola's Quito Rhymer and The Edge, from playing their scheduled set.
The St. John Festival Reggae Show began shortly after the scheduled 8 p.m. starting time and ran for five hours before Rhymer and his band took to the stage at 1:05 a.m. Looking exuberant despite the hour, Rhymer told the crowd he was happy to be back on St. John. But in the middle of his third song, the ball field lights went on and Quito announced to the crowd, "I just got word. We gotta go."
Some in the audience who had come to the show specifically to see Rhymer perform were flabbergasted. "I waited five hours for 15 minutes of Quito!" one disappointed fan exclaimed.
Rhymer appeared incredulous, himself, but quickly recovered and sensed his need to appease the audience. "Let's do one more," he said, launching into an upbeat tune, "Everything is Irie," with the ball field lights still on.
"I love you. Hope to see you again in better circumstances," he told everyone before he left the stage at 1:30 a.m.
Leona Smith, chair of the St. John Festival Committee, said on Monday it was unfortunate, but the captain of the ferry to St. Thomas, which was scheduled to leave a half hour after the reggae night ended, wanted to get home.
Throughout the evening, Reggae Night organizer "Grasshopper" Pickering had repeatedly told the crowd, "Don't worry about getting back to St. Thomas. A special ferry will leave a half hour after the show is over."
Smith said the St. John Festival Committee did not control the logistics of the event and was responsible only for the show's concession. Pickering could not be reached for comment Monday morning.
The St. John Festival Reggae Show began shortly after the scheduled 8 p.m. starting time and ran for five hours before Rhymer and his band took to the stage at 1:05 a.m. Looking exuberant despite the hour, Rhymer told the crowd he was happy to be back on St. John. But in the middle of his third song, the ball field lights went on and Quito announced to the crowd, "I just got word. We gotta go."
Some in the audience who had come to the show specifically to see Rhymer perform were flabbergasted. "I waited five hours for 15 minutes of Quito!" one disappointed fan exclaimed.
Rhymer appeared incredulous, himself, but quickly recovered and sensed his need to appease the audience. "Let's do one more," he said, launching into an upbeat tune, "Everything is Irie," with the ball field lights still on.
"I love you. Hope to see you again in better circumstances," he told everyone before he left the stage at 1:30 a.m.
Leona Smith, chair of the St. John Festival Committee, said on Monday it was unfortunate, but the captain of the ferry to St. Thomas, which was scheduled to leave a half hour after the reggae night ended, wanted to get home.
Throughout the evening, Reggae Night organizer "Grasshopper" Pickering had repeatedly told the crowd, "Don't worry about getting back to St. Thomas. A special ferry will leave a half hour after the show is over."
Smith said the St. John Festival Committee did not control the logistics of the event and was responsible only for the show's concession. Pickering could not be reached for comment Monday morning.
CASINO APPLICANT’S LAWYER BLASTS PROCESS
June 26, 2001 — At a public hearing before the Casino Control Commission on Monday, the attorney for Golden Gaming LLC, the latest firm trying to obtain a casino application on St. Croix, called the V.I. background investigation of his client the most negative he has seen in his nearly 20 years of representing gambling-related companies.
"I have never seen anything like it. From the very beginning it was negative and mean spirited," Lloyd Levinson said of the background probe of his client, Paul Golden. "There was no attempt to present the positives and negatives; just negatives."
Except for opening statements by Levinson and the Division of Gaming Enforcement, the commission's "public" hearing was held in executive session, because it dealt with confidential information regarding Golden’s finances. Commission chair Eileen Petersen said that's not the way she would have preferred it.
"Left to me, everything would hang out. But that's not what the law allows," she said.
The hearing was expected to continue Tuesday and possibly go into Wednesday.
The objective of the hearing, Petersen said, is to ascertain Golden’s character.
"We are only dealing with one issue, and that is whether Paul Golden has the honesty, ability and good character to allow us to proceed with the next step," she said.
In that light, no information was provided regarding Golden’s proposed plans for a hotel-casino. Golden declined to comment, but speculation is that he is looking to develop a Tier II hotel-casino with a golf course on the east end of St. Croix. A Tier II resort must have 300 to 1,400 rooms and a 10,000-square-foot casino.
Other than bits and pieces alluded to by Levinson in his opening statement, Golden's background and plans for St. Croix remain mostly unknown. The attorney said his client recently sold a restaurant in New Jersey for a "considerable amount of money." And Golden has a $2.4 million loan guarantee from Amboy National Bank in New Jersey to purchase property on St. Croix for the proposed casino/resort.
Levinson, meanwhile, tore into the consulting company hired by Gaming Enforcement to carry out the background check of his client. He said "very, very serious accusations" were made in the report that were not accurate.
Levinson acknowledged, however, that his client had invested money in the past into businesses that "ran into trouble."
"There have been some bumps in the road in his life," Levinson said, but "if there was anything negative that could be brought up against Mr. Golden … you would have seen it in these reports."
Oliver David, director of the Division of Gaming Enforcement, said the background check was not negative, just thorough.
"In the end, the commission is going to have information from all sides … to see if Mr. Golden meets the criteria," David said. "Our job is to give the Casino Control Commission all the information — the good, bad and the ugly."
Before the commission went into executive session, Petersen called for public comment from the audience. Anton Kuipers, manager of the only casino on St. Croix, at the Divi Carina Bay Resort, said Golden’s attempt to enter the market is welcome.
Another casino and another 400 hotel rooms will help attract more tourists, he said, and, in turn, the interest of the airlines. While the Divi has enjoyed its run as the island's sole casino, Kuipers said, its owners recognize that for the island to reach its "full potential," a second casino is needed.
"With two casinos, we’ll have more leverage with our tourism partners," he said.
The Divi Carina Bay Resort and Casino opened in March 2000. A second casino application, by a Colorado-based company, was rejected by the commission after the company said it would need to develop the mandated number of hotel rooms gradually over time.
A third application came from St. Croix businessman and attorney Mario de Chabert. His project, an eight-story, 193-room casino/hotel to be built on property his family owns near the Sunny Isle Shopping Center, is in limbo because de Chabert has health problems.
Along with the intensive business management background check, other steps that must be taken before an application is approved include:
— Verification of the project's financial viability.
— A feasibility study to determine if the island can support a second casino.
— Public hearings.
— Payment of the remainder of the license application fee.
"I have never seen anything like it. From the very beginning it was negative and mean spirited," Lloyd Levinson said of the background probe of his client, Paul Golden. "There was no attempt to present the positives and negatives; just negatives."
Except for opening statements by Levinson and the Division of Gaming Enforcement, the commission's "public" hearing was held in executive session, because it dealt with confidential information regarding Golden’s finances. Commission chair Eileen Petersen said that's not the way she would have preferred it.
"Left to me, everything would hang out. But that's not what the law allows," she said.
The hearing was expected to continue Tuesday and possibly go into Wednesday.
The objective of the hearing, Petersen said, is to ascertain Golden’s character.
"We are only dealing with one issue, and that is whether Paul Golden has the honesty, ability and good character to allow us to proceed with the next step," she said.
In that light, no information was provided regarding Golden’s proposed plans for a hotel-casino. Golden declined to comment, but speculation is that he is looking to develop a Tier II hotel-casino with a golf course on the east end of St. Croix. A Tier II resort must have 300 to 1,400 rooms and a 10,000-square-foot casino.
Other than bits and pieces alluded to by Levinson in his opening statement, Golden's background and plans for St. Croix remain mostly unknown. The attorney said his client recently sold a restaurant in New Jersey for a "considerable amount of money." And Golden has a $2.4 million loan guarantee from Amboy National Bank in New Jersey to purchase property on St. Croix for the proposed casino/resort.
Levinson, meanwhile, tore into the consulting company hired by Gaming Enforcement to carry out the background check of his client. He said "very, very serious accusations" were made in the report that were not accurate.
Levinson acknowledged, however, that his client had invested money in the past into businesses that "ran into trouble."
"There have been some bumps in the road in his life," Levinson said, but "if there was anything negative that could be brought up against Mr. Golden … you would have seen it in these reports."
Oliver David, director of the Division of Gaming Enforcement, said the background check was not negative, just thorough.
"In the end, the commission is going to have information from all sides … to see if Mr. Golden meets the criteria," David said. "Our job is to give the Casino Control Commission all the information — the good, bad and the ugly."
Before the commission went into executive session, Petersen called for public comment from the audience. Anton Kuipers, manager of the only casino on St. Croix, at the Divi Carina Bay Resort, said Golden’s attempt to enter the market is welcome.
Another casino and another 400 hotel rooms will help attract more tourists, he said, and, in turn, the interest of the airlines. While the Divi has enjoyed its run as the island's sole casino, Kuipers said, its owners recognize that for the island to reach its "full potential," a second casino is needed.
"With two casinos, we’ll have more leverage with our tourism partners," he said.
The Divi Carina Bay Resort and Casino opened in March 2000. A second casino application, by a Colorado-based company, was rejected by the commission after the company said it would need to develop the mandated number of hotel rooms gradually over time.
A third application came from St. Croix businessman and attorney Mario de Chabert. His project, an eight-story, 193-room casino/hotel to be built on property his family owns near the Sunny Isle Shopping Center, is in limbo because de Chabert has health problems.
Along with the intensive business management background check, other steps that must be taken before an application is approved include:
— Verification of the project's financial viability.
— A feasibility study to determine if the island can support a second casino.
— Public hearings.
— Payment of the remainder of the license application fee.
WHAT'S NEW IN THE SOURCE: THE INSIDE STORY
Here is a short update of some new items inside the St. Thomas Source. This is a partial list only.
Schools: Summer school for the elementary grades will start Monday for pupils whose parents and guardians submitted application forms in the spring.
Legal Notices: The Westin is accepting bids for soil remediation services…Here is where you will find what kinds of goods and services are needed by Economic Development Commission beneficiaries.
Local Government: The administration and the American Red Cross agreed formally Wednesday to cooperation and coordination in disaster and emergency efforts … The head of Fire Services says if the Legislature approves a supplemental appropriation of $500,000, the department can hire additional firefighters — and cut way back on overtime … Fifty-four government employees are taking computer courses to upgrade their skills via the on-line Department of Interior University.
Food: The Source introduces a Recipe of the Week feature. At the height of mango season, nutritionist Carol Bareuther offers hints on how to enjoy the juicy fruit and a guide to a great Mango Upside-Down Cake.
Lifestyles/Other stuff: Intrepid V.I. traveler Kirk Grybowski takes readers on a tour of Budapest's highly — and rightly — touted thermal spas and baths, with passing mention of massages, mud packs and more.
Community/Other stuff: The theme has been decided for Carnival 2002; now, the V.I. Carnival Committee is looking for a jingle to promote it.
Organizations: The Republican Party will host a pre-Independence Day celebration on June 29 on St. Thomas, with two prominent Washington, D.C., personalities as special guests.
Op-ed: Licensing and Consumer Affairs Commissioner Andrew Rutnik says where competition is concerned, the ultimate decision lies with the consumer, no matter how many advantages any one manufacturer has.
On St. Thomas, conflict at a town meeting in Nadir came down to what could be a choice between protecting the residents of St. Thomas's worst flood plain and protecting pond apples in the nearby mangroves.
On St. John, When Sunday's Reggae Night ran late with unannounced acts, headliner Quito Rhymer was forced to cut his show to a short half hour so he could catch a ferry.
Schools: Summer school for the elementary grades will start Monday for pupils whose parents and guardians submitted application forms in the spring.
Legal Notices: The Westin is accepting bids for soil remediation services…Here is where you will find what kinds of goods and services are needed by Economic Development Commission beneficiaries.
Local Government: The administration and the American Red Cross agreed formally Wednesday to cooperation and coordination in disaster and emergency efforts … The head of Fire Services says if the Legislature approves a supplemental appropriation of $500,000, the department can hire additional firefighters — and cut way back on overtime … Fifty-four government employees are taking computer courses to upgrade their skills via the on-line Department of Interior University.
Food: The Source introduces a Recipe of the Week feature. At the height of mango season, nutritionist Carol Bareuther offers hints on how to enjoy the juicy fruit and a guide to a great Mango Upside-Down Cake.
Lifestyles/Other stuff: Intrepid V.I. traveler Kirk Grybowski takes readers on a tour of Budapest's highly — and rightly — touted thermal spas and baths, with passing mention of massages, mud packs and more.
Community/Other stuff: The theme has been decided for Carnival 2002; now, the V.I. Carnival Committee is looking for a jingle to promote it.
Organizations: The Republican Party will host a pre-Independence Day celebration on June 29 on St. Thomas, with two prominent Washington, D.C., personalities as special guests.
Op-ed: Licensing and Consumer Affairs Commissioner Andrew Rutnik says where competition is concerned, the ultimate decision lies with the consumer, no matter how many advantages any one manufacturer has.
On St. Thomas, conflict at a town meeting in Nadir came down to what could be a choice between protecting the residents of St. Thomas's worst flood plain and protecting pond apples in the nearby mangroves.
On St. John, When Sunday's Reggae Night ran late with unannounced acts, headliner Quito Rhymer was forced to cut his show to a short half hour so he could catch a ferry.
