Sen. Vargrave Richards will retain his title for two more years and Senate candidate Raymond "Usie" Richards may or may not be one in 2002, following the final tally of absentee votes for St. Croix on Saturday afternoon.
Sen. Richards and Raymond Richards, who are cousins, tied for the seventh St. Croix Senate seat in the Nov. 7 general election at 3,936 votes. Following close behind by only 19 votes was Luther Renee.
But after 449 absentee ballots were counted Saturday, Sen. Richards prevailed by 25 votes with a total of 146. Usie Richards received 121 while Renee got 53. Another 52 ballots were "spoiled," meaning they were deemed ineligble.
As of 7:30 p.m., elections officials were still tabulating the absentee ballots for the St. Thomas-St. John district.
As in St. Croix, St. Thomas-St. John had a battle for the seventh Senate seat. On Nov. 7 Sen. George Goodwin won the seventh and last district seat with 4,998 votes but Sen. Lorraine Berry was close behind with 4,883. With the 679 absentee ballots that went out in the distrct, Goodwin's lead could easily evaporate.
Approximately 1,157 absentee ballots were either mailed or picked up, 478 on St. Croix and 679 in St. Thomas-St. John.
Sen. Richards couldn't be reached for comment Saturday. Usie Richards, who also chairs the Joint Board of Elections, congratulated Sen. Richards on his victory.
"I think the process went well," Usie Richards said. "I think the absentee ballot voters spoke."
He said he hasn't decided on making another run for the Senate in 2002 even though his election finishes have improved each time he has run. In 1986 he finished 10th, in 1998 he improved to 9th and this year he finished 8th. Still, he said, taking leave from his job and the stress of running an election takes a toll – both mentally and monetarily.
"I will take input from my family and committee members," he said. "For me to run again will take some very serious contemplation on my behalf."

Sen. Vargrave Richards will retain his title for two more years and Senate candidate Raymond "Usie" Richards may or may not be one in 2002, following the final tally of absentee votes for St. Croix on Saturday afternoon.
Sen. Richards and Raymond Richards, who are cousins, tied for the seventh St. Croix Senate seat in the Nov. 7 general election at 3,936 votes. Following close behind by only 19 votes was Luther Renee.
But after 449 absentee ballots were counted Saturday, Sen. Richards prevailed by 25 votes with a total of 146. Usie Richards received 121 while Renee got 53. Another 52 ballots were "spoiled," meaning they were deemed ineligble.
As of 7:30 p.m., elections officials were still tabulating the absentee ballots for the St. Thomas-St. John district.
As in St. Croix, St. Thomas-St. John had a battle for the seventh Senate seat. On Nov. 7 Sen. George Goodwin won the seventh and last district seat with 4,998 votes but Sen. Lorraine Berry was close behind with 4,883. With the 679 absentee ballots that went out in the distrct, Goodwin's lead could easily evaporate.
Approximately 1,157 absentee ballots were either mailed or picked up, 478 on St. Croix and 679 in St. Thomas-St. John.
Sen. Richards couldn't be reached for comment Saturday. Usie Richards, who also chairs the Joint Board of Elections, congratulated Sen. Richards on his victory.
"I think the process went well," Usie Richards said. "I think the absentee ballot voters spoke."
He said he hasn't decided on making another run for the Senate in 2002 even though his election finishes have improved each time he has run. In 1986 he finished 10th, in 1998 he improved to 9th and this year he finished 8th. Still, he said, taking leave from his job and the stress of running an election takes a toll – both mentally and monetarily.
"I will take input from my family and committee members," he said. "For me to run again will take some very serious contemplation on my behalf."

Almost a year after Marvin Dominguez was arrested and charged with murdering his girlfriend and then burying her body in the backyard of their St. Croix home, the New Jersey native is still behind bars awaiting trial.
Dominguez, 25, is accused of strangling Patricia Ann Haumacher, 30, in October 1999. He turned himself in to police a month later after telling acquaintances that Haumacher had left the island.
After several postponements of his trial, Dominguez remains in custody, mainly becaue evidence sent to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s crime lab in Washington, D.C., hasn’t been returned, said the V.I. government’s prosecutor, Assistant Attorney General Darryl Donohue.
Donohue said the delay in starting the trial, particularly a homicide case involving crucial evidence, is not unusual.
"There are certain types of evidential analysis that we cannot do here. We have to send it off island," he said, adding that since the territory is relatively small, waits can be long. "As a consequence we have to stand in line."
Dominguez’s court-appointed attorney, Richard Daley, recently filed a motion for a speedy trial but was denied. A pre-trial conference, where the judge will be briefed on whether the case will go to trial or plea-bargained, is the next step. When that will happen is unclear.
The judge handling the case, Alphonso Andrews, wasn’t renominated to the bench, and that has hindered the process as well.
"Basically, it’s continued without a date," Daley said.
There is a federal statute that calls for a defendant to get a trial within 90 days of being arrested. The statute, however, doesn’t apply in the territory. According to Donohue, the territory follows the speedy trial mandates in the Constitution, which allows a judge leeway to decide if a defendant has been harmed by a delay.
Friends of Haumacher are concerned that Dominguez still hasn’t been to trial. One of them, Catherine Pugliese, is a co-owner of the restaurant where the couple worked.
"I still think it should be brought to light," she said. "Something should be said on behalf of her friends and family and all the victims of domestic violence. We haven’t forgotten Annie. A lot of people still care."
Although Dominguez turned himself in for the crime, he has pleaded not guilty.
Haumacher’s family in New Jersey reported her missing on Nov. 9, 1999, after not hearing from her for more than a month. Four days later, V.I. police interviewed Dominguez, who told investigators she was having family problems and had left the island. Acquaintances of Dominguez and Haumacher said she was last seen around Oct. 8, 1999.
Dominguez turned himself in on Nov. 29, soon after authorities queried him about Haumacher’s whereabouts. The next day officials exhumed Haumacher’s body, bound and gagged inside a duffel bag, from a shallow grave in the yard of the house the two had shared in Estate Two Brothers. An autopsy concluded that the victim was killed by manual strangulation and had been dead for one to two months.

Five companies owned by Innovative Communications Corp., including Virgin Islands Telephone Corp., will all soon be known simply as Innovative, according to a statement released Friday by ICC.
In addition to Vitelco, the companies affected by the name change are Vitelcellular, Vitelcom, St. Croix Cable TV and St. Thomas-St. John Cable TV.
ICC Chief Operating Officer Thomas Minnich said in the statement that the name changes are "part of our consolidation and our goal to provide one-stop shopping for our customers."
According to the statement, the name change will be accompanied by a new logo and new uniforms for employees. Minnich said employees have been "enthusiastic and extremely coooperative" and lauded their "fine cooperation" and that of the United Steelworkers of America, which represents many ICC employees.
The five ICC companies will initially be known as Innovative Telephone, Innovative Wireless, Innovative Business Systems, Innovative Cable TV: St. Croix, and Innovative Cable TV: St. Thomas-St. John. All will share the customer-service telephone number 779-9999.
ICC is solely owned by Jeffrey Prosser, who also owns the V.I. Community Bank and is the largest private-sector employer in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Five companies owned by Innovative Communications Corp., including Virgin Islands Telephone Corp., will soon be known simply as Innovative, according to a statement released Friday by ICC.
In addition to Vitelco, the companies affected by the name change are Vitelcellular, Vitelcom, St. Croix Cable TV and St. Thomas-St. John Cable TV.
ICC Chief Operating Officer Thomas Minnich said in the statement that the name changes are "part of our consolidation and our goal to provide one-stop shopping for our customers."
According to the statement, the name change will be accompanied by a new logo and new uniforms for employees. Minnich said employees have been "enthusiastic and extremely coooperative" and lauded their "fine cooperation" and that of the United Steelworkers of America, which represents many ICC employees.
The five ICC companies will initially be known as Innovative Telephone, Innovative Wireless, Innovative Business Systems, Innovative Cable TV: St. Croix, and Innovative Cable TV: St. Thomas-St. John. All will share the customer-service telephone number 779-9999.
ICC is solely owned by Jeffrey Prosser, who also owns the Daily News and the V.I. Community Bank and is the largest private-sector employer in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The winners of competitions at last weekend's St. Thomas-St. John Agriculture and Food Fair were released Friday.
LIVESTOCK
Best Beef Cattle: Washington Gumbs
Male Goat: 1st, Washington Gumbs; 2nd, Leslie Todman; 3rd, Lawrence Romney
Female Goat: 1st, Lionel Boschulte; 2nd, Washington Gumbs; 3rd, Lawrence Romney
Kid Goat: 1st, Lawrence Romney; 2nd, Washington Gumbs
Male Sheep: 1st, Leslie Todman; 2nd, Robert Batista; 3rd, Rashid Mohammed
Female Sheep: 1st, Rashid Mohammed; 2nd, Leslie Todman; 3rd, Robert Bastian
Boar: 1st, Robert Bastian; 2nd, Leslie Todman
Sow: 1st, Leslie Todman; 2nd, Robert Bastian
Domestic Fowl: 1st, Lionel Boschulte; 2nd, Donald Stevens
Exotic Fowl: 1st, Lioinel Boschulte
FOOD CROPS
1st: We Grow Food
2nd: Charles Leonard
3rd: Gerald Hodge
ORNAMENTAL
1st: Ruth Anthony
2nd: De Plant Man
3rd: Omar Ledee
PREPARED FOODS
1st: Joycelyn Monsanto
2nd: Eudella West
3rd: Theresa Davis
BEST-TASTING SWEETBREAD
1st: Gail Callwood-Hill
2nd: Barbara Mark/Marjorie George
3rd: Hilda Barry
BEST-TASTING MAUBI
1st: Cecil Potter
2nd: Laurice Fahie
3rd: Tyrene Gifft

The Kean High School Parent Teachers Students Association urges all parents of students attending Kean High School to attend an important meeting at 6 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 20, in the school's library.
This meeting is called to finalize the PTSA's contribution to the success of th NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament to be held at the Kean Gym starting Nov. 24.

The Kean High School Parent Teachers Students Association urges all parents of students to attend an important meeting at 6 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 20, in the school's library.
This meeting is called to finalize the PTSA's contribution to the success of the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament to be held at the Kean Gym starting NOv. 24.

There will be a planning meeting at 3 p.m. Saturday for all parents, volunteers and other interested persons who are interested in assisting with the St. Thomas Youth Soccer Thanksgiving Tournament on November 24- 26. The meeting will be in the Caribbean Room of the Windward Passage/Holiday Inn. For more details call Stephen Brusch at 776-2237 or Trevor Velinor at 693-2213.
The Under 14 St. Thomas soccer teams traveled to St. Croix last Sunday for games there. St. Thomas Youth Soccer was to play Cancryn while on St. Croix but the game had to be re-scheduled. It was played on Thursday afternoon at UVI field. Youth Soccer tamed Cancryn with a decisive 5-0 victory with four goals by Max Hoffman and one by Jarrandy Richards.
In playoff action Friday:
Under 10 GAME A – Antilles Gold vs. Youth Soccer, 0-2; Victoria Hamilton (2), Youth Soccer.
GAME B – Antilles Red vs. All Saints Green, 2-1; Christo Dimopolous (2), Antilles, Justin King (1) All Saints.
Under 13 GAME C – Youth Soccer vs. All Saints, 0-2; Jabari Velinor, Ashwin Chuguni, All Saints.

The Legislature on Friday canceled budget hearings for the coming week and beginning Nov. 28 will concentrate instead on a series of revenue measures including Bureau of Internal Revenue collections of millions in outstanding taxes.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Lorraine Berry said Friday that senators want to deal with the revenue measures by the end of the month and to wrap up all business of the current Legislature by Dec. 13.
She would not elaborate on the proposals saying "we are still working on those."
Meanwhile "we intend to leave the current budget in place," she said.
"This was the consensus of the people who caucused" for three days this week. She would not say specifically who is behind the move but said they represent a majority of the Legislature.
The Legislature needs to make up a shortfall of at least $34 million, the result partly of its rejection of administration proposals.
To balance his budget proposal, Gov. Charles Turnbull was counting on $24 million from a temporary increase in the gross receipts tax and another $10 million from having government employees share the cost of their benefits 50-50 with the government. The Legislature already has rejected both measures.
Turnbull's budget, which calls for $429 million, now stands at $395 million. And Berry believes the gap is even wider. The 2000 budget was $444 million, and she questioned whether $429 million is realistic for 2001.
"It was an inadequate budget from the very beginning," she said.
She also criticized the administration for failing to implement the Fiscal Accountability law that was passed over Turnbull's veto in the summer of 1999. Its provisions include a requirement for a balanced budget and a "two for one" government employee attrition program.
Berry said another factor in the decision to cancel next week's schedule of budget hearings was that a number of department heads were not available to attend.
When the committee resumes work on Nov. 28 in Senate chambers on St. Thomas, it will hear from top administration financial officers: Ira Mills, director of the Office of Management and Budget; Finance Commissioner Bernice Turnbull; Louis Willis, acting director of the IRB; Tax Assessor Roy Martin; Lauritz Mills, head of the Bureau of Economic Research; and Amadeo Francis, director of finance and administration for the Public Finance Authority.