The 15 members of the 23rd Legislature — 10 incumbents and five newcomers — will be sworn in Monday morning as mandated by V.I. law.
The Revised Organic Act requires the Legislature to convene on the second Monday in January.
The swearing-in ceremony will take place at 10 a.m. at Emancipation Garden. Afterwards the 15 senators will walk to
the Legislature building a block away where they will officially organize, elect officers, make committee assignments and adopt new rules.
With an 11-member majority this term, the process of electing officers may be less antagonistic than it has been in the past.
Vargrave Richards of St. Croix has been unofficially designated president of the new Legislature, taking over from Lorraine L. Berry of St. Thomas. Richards has already said he will not tolerate disruptions.
Following the formal session, the senators will host a lunch at Frenchman's Reef.
Gov. Charles W. Turnbull will give his State of the Territory address at 7:30 that night at the Legislature.
Members of the majority bloc include seven Democrats, two Republicans and two independents. They are:
— Richards, Democrat, St. Croix.
— Berry, Democrat, St. Thomas-St. John.
— Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg, independent, St. Thomas-St. John.
— Judy M. Gomez, Democrat, St. Thomas-St. John.
— Allie-Allison Petrus, independent, St. Thomas-St. John.
— Roosevelt David, Democrat, St. Thomas-St. John.
— George Goodwin, Democrat, St. Thomas-St. John.
— Anne Golden, Republican, St. Croix.
— Norman Jn Baptiste, Democrat, St. Croix.
— Gregory Bennerson, Republican, St. Croix.
— David Jones, Democrat, St. Croix.
The four non-majority bloc senators are:
–Newcomer Donald "Ducks" Cole, independent, St. Thomas-St. John.
— Almando "Rocky" Liburd, ICM, at-large.
— Adelbert M. "Bert" Bryan, ICM, St. Croix.
— Alicia "Chucky" Hansen, independent, St. Croix.

The St. Thomas Historic Preservation Commission is challenging the legality of the roof being built over the deck of Manno's Restaurant in the Fort Christian parking lot.
Commission member Philip Sturm said the six-member commission twice turned down Manno's owner, Egbert Stuart, last year when he sought approval to build the roof, the Independent reported Saturday.
Construction in the islands' historic districts must be approved by each island's Historic Preservation Commission before a building permit can be issued.
"One of the reasons the HPC turned down the request is that we believe that the deck, which was constructed in 1996, over which the roofing is being constructed, is also illegal, having received neither HPC approval nor a building permit before it was built," Sturm said. "Stuart's request was denied because it is against the policy of the commission to approve additions to an illegal structure such as the deck at Manno's."
Somehow, however, the Planning and Natural Resources Department issued Stuart a building permit for the roof in early December even though he didn't have HPC approval for it, the paper reported. But that permit was revoked Dec. 30 and the department is seeking a stop-work order to force Stuart to remove the portion of the roof already built, according to Manny Ramos, director of permits.
PNR's Dec. 30 order says that the building permit was "issued in error and is hereby revoked." It explains that the PNR commissioner can revoke any permit issued on the basis of misrepresentations in the original application.
"The misrepresentation is the application stated that the building permit was for roof repair," Ramos told the Independent. "This is not the case."
Stuart declined to respond to the Independent's request for comment.
Ramos said PNR officials will meet with Stuart soon, and Sturm noted that Stuart can appeal the Historic Preservation Commission's ruling to the Board of Land-Use Appeals.

Carmelo Rivera, Labor commissioner in the Schneider administration, is still on the job even though Gov. Charles W. Turnbull has named an acting commissioner to replace him.
Rivera did not resign and has gotten no official notice that he has been replaced, according to Saturday's Independent.
"All I know is what I read in the newspapers," Rivera said. "No official word has come to me, either verbally or in writing."
The Independent quoted Rudolph Krigger Sr., head of Turnbull's transition team, as saying of Rivera, "Well, there's another person in his position. You interpret that the way you want to."
Turnbull on Thursday named Eleuteria as acting Labor commissioner.
Rivera said if Turnbull doesn't want him to continue, he will look for work in the private sector, hopefully in the Virgin Islands.

V.I. Delegate to Congress Donna Christian-Green married Christian "Olie" Christensen on New Year's Eve morning in a garden ceremony outside the groom's Judith's Fancy, St. Croix, home.
Her daughters, Rabiah L. Green, 23, and Karida Y. Green, 21, were the "bride givers," though her father, retired District Court Judge Almeric M. Christian, also was there with his wife, Shirley.
Christensen is a widower with four children. The bride and groom have known each other for many years; they started dating about a year ago.
The delegate said that in addition to her official duties, she will concentrate on being "the perfect wife."
And what is she to be called? "She's definitely going to be Donna Christensen," one friend said.
Among the invited guests: a slew of Canegatas; Vicki and Adam Christian (he's the delegate's brother); her sister, Rebecca Christian; Lo'an Sewer, the delegate's Washington spokeswoman, along with other staffers from her V.I. and D.C. offices; Monique Hodge, wife of the former lieutenant governor (Derek, her husband, is in Spain); Judi Nagelberg, a longtime friend; Keith and Vida Richards; Frank Schulterbrandt; Elena Shaubah; and Samuel Ebbesen, chief executive officer of the V.I. Telephone Corp.

The name game has come to an end with an announcement Friday afternoon that the delegate to Congress will now be officially known as Donna M. Christian-Christensen — but she refers to herself on second reference as "Delegate Christensen."
Though friends said immediately after her New Year’s Eve marriage to St. Croix native and longtime friend Christian “Olie” Christensen that she would take his name as her own, speculation continued.
But according to a release from her office, "Delegate Christensen was sworn into the 106th Congress bearing her new name in a Capitol Hill ceremony on Wednesday along with her colleagues."
(Editor's note: See the earlier story on the People page about the delegate's wedding ceremony.)

Governor Charles W. Turnbull will make his first State of the Territory Address at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 11. The State of the Territory Address will be delivered in the Senate Chambers on St. Thomas.

Say what you will about Gov. Roy L. Schneider and his leadership style, you have to give him credit for what he did accomplish.
Case in point: We have a cleaner, prettier island today than when he took office four years ago, and some of the credit goes to Schneider's get-it-done approach to governing.
Our roadsides aren't nearly as littered. Garbage is picked up regularly, and isn't always scattered around the Dumpsters. Trash cans have been placed in spots where people would otherwise dispose of their litter on the streets or sidewalks. The Emancipation Garden park is a little gem in the midst of downtown. The waterfront looks better.
Not that this is all because of Roy Schneider. Others played key roles too, including the Chamber of Commerce, which helped make the park a reality, and environmentalists who have raised the community's consciousness about the need to preserve and protect the beauty that is ours. And, of course, we have to tip our hats to Mother Nature, whose copious amounts of rainfall have made the islands lush.
But Roy Schneider saw the need for improving the overall look of these islands and made it a priority.
The challenge for Gov. Charles W. Turnbull is to continue where his predecessor left off, and to accomplish what Schneider failed to do, including filling potholes, paving and maintaining roads, restoring blown-away roadside mirrors and making sure roadside brush is cut regularly.

Small businesses in the Virgin Islands may eventually benefit from a new bill in Congress that will provide greater access to startup and investment capital, lower interest rates on small business loans and boost cash flow for these enterprises.
Delegate Donna M. Christian-Christensen, a member of the House Small Business Committee, said she is encouraged by the availability of such funding for small business owners because they make up the majority of the private sector in the territory.
“This legislation will provide local entrepreneurs with the assistance they need to revive their businesses thereby improving the territory’s economy," she said. "I encourage all eligible companies to take advantage of this and other funding opportunities through the Small Business Administration.”
The new bill would improve the Small Business Investment Company Act, a public-private partnership that provides an alternative avenue from the more traditional route of banks as a source of capital, thus enabling small businesses to become large corporations.
“Although there are no SBICs currently in the V.I., it remains a potential investment tool for small business development in the territory,” Christensen said.
The bill, HR 68, is expected to be brought to the floor in the following weeks and an identical proposal will be considered in the Senate this spring.

What inspires young people to learn? What draws older children to focus and create a product or performance of originality and excellence?
How can we provide quality learning environments for young people conditioned to beleaguered schools, limited economic and recreational resources, and too many families trying to parent in the face of conflicting demands on their time, emotions and financial resources?
These and other questions are often asked among concerned parents, educators, juvenile justice officials, religious leaders and policy makers.
Studies have found that localities and organizations that focus their activities in the arts enable young people who engage in these programs regularly to improve their academic standing, increase their abilities in self-assessment and motivation, and raise their sense of the importance of planning and working for a positive future for themselves and their communities.
Learning in the arts can no longer be regarded as "extra," "trivial" or possible only when the basics are in place.
The arts are basic, for they push leaders to pose problems and find solutions, to link thought and action, and to recognize the consequences of individual behaviors on group interactions and achievements.
Current thinking and demands of communication in the continuing information-based workplace reveal the kinds of thinking necessary for civic, economic, technical, inventive and social challenges and point to society's keen need for more learning of the kind existing within the arts.
Within the Virgin Islands, environments must be created that enable educators and professional artists to see art involvement in school and non-school activities as viable and compelling options to learning.
What about the costs of these actual programs? This is a relatively easy question to answer.
Once physical space is available, the costs to support young people's involvement in the arts are surprisingly low. In figuring costs, one must take into account that young artists are not drains on resources — they are resources.
Ideally, each young artist gives back to the community and surrounding institutions in a variety of ways that are incalculable — education, counseling, entertainment and as role models.
As we in the community and the new administration embark on the threshold of a new millennium, we must remember that the arts enable us not only to honor our past but also to imagine our future.
The arts have always inspired us with new insights, discoveries and achievements. Through poems and plays, dances and documentaries, stories and songs, paintings and philosophies, the arts have touched our lives and enriched our spirits.
In this increasingly diverse society, the arts help us to appreciate and understand one another as individuals while deepening our common bonds.
As we prepare to mark the end of this century and the beginning of a new one, it is most important that we preserve, embrace and nurture the work of established and emerging artists.

Anyone interested in obtaining a vendors space at the Lionel Roberts Stadium Ballpark during carnival must submit a request, in writing, to the Virgin Islands Carnival Committee by January 31, 1999. Requests should include name of organization, and dates requested.