It's summer, beware. Here come the summer films( where one normally loads up on popcorn and looks for a relaxing nap). "Road Trip," one of the season's maiden ventures, has nothing maiden about it. In fact, from some comments, it could use a bit of chastity, but . . .
There's some pretty funny morality going on here, i.e. regarding cheating on one's True Love. "It's not cheating if you're in a different area code, or if you're too wasted to remember it." Words to live by.
Anyway, college boy Josh ( Brekin Meyer, "Clueless") has been doing just that, cheating, and one of his buddies gets it on video tape, which accidentally gets sent to his True Love in Texas, 1800 miles away. Thus, the trip, road and otherwise, gets started.
Josh enlists two of his pals, and they take off from Ithaca, N.Y., scene of the crime, to Texas to retrieve his punctured romance and intercept the tape before it falls into the hands of his TL (Rachel Blanchard). They are apparently navigational challenged as they get Boston and Austin mixed up. Well, they do sort of sound alike.
As Josh, Meyer earns some sympathy from the critics, but they are not as kind to his sidekicks, especially Seann William Scott as his sly, prankster friend, who is described as doing a "Jim Carrey impression throughout the trip." Nonetheless, it is generally described as an "amusing ride," and, what the whatever, it's summer.
It is directed by Todd Phillips and is rated R for strong sexual contact, (that would be the lurid video, I bet), crude humor, language and drug use.
It starts Thursday at Market Square East.
'ROAD TRIP' AN 'AMUSING RIDE'
It's summer, beware. Here come the summer films (where one normally loads up on popcorn and looks for a relaxing nap). "Road Trip," one of the season's maiden ventures, has nothing maiden about it. In fact, from some comments, it could use a bit of chastity, but . . .
There's some pretty funny morality going on here, i.e. regarding cheating on one's True Love. "It's not cheating if you're in a different area code, or if you're too wasted to remember it." Words to live by.
Anyway, college boy Josh (Brekin Meyer, "Clueless") has been doing just that, cheating, and one of his buddies gets it on videotape, which accidentally gets sent to his True Love in Texas, 1,800 miles away. Thus, the trip, road and otherwise, gets started.
Josh enlists two of his pals, and they take off from Ithaca, N.Y., scene of the crime, for Texas to retrieve his punctured romance and intercept the tape before it falls into the hands of his TL (Rachel Blanchard). Apparently navigationally challenged, they get Boston and Austin mixed up. Well, they do sort of sound alike.
As Josh, Meyer earns some sympathy from the critics, but they are not as kind to his sidekicks, especially Seann William Scott as his sly, prankster friend who is described as doing a "Jim Carrey impression throughout the trip." Nonetheless, it is generally described as an "amusing ride," and, what the whatever, it's summer.
It is directed by Todd Phillips and is rated R for strong sexual contact, (that would be the lurid video, I bet), crude humor, language and drug use.
The movie started Thursday at Sunny Isle Theaters.
There's some pretty funny morality going on here, i.e. regarding cheating on one's True Love. "It's not cheating if you're in a different area code, or if you're too wasted to remember it." Words to live by.
Anyway, college boy Josh (Brekin Meyer, "Clueless") has been doing just that, cheating, and one of his buddies gets it on videotape, which accidentally gets sent to his True Love in Texas, 1,800 miles away. Thus, the trip, road and otherwise, gets started.
Josh enlists two of his pals, and they take off from Ithaca, N.Y., scene of the crime, for Texas to retrieve his punctured romance and intercept the tape before it falls into the hands of his TL (Rachel Blanchard). Apparently navigationally challenged, they get Boston and Austin mixed up. Well, they do sort of sound alike.
As Josh, Meyer earns some sympathy from the critics, but they are not as kind to his sidekicks, especially Seann William Scott as his sly, prankster friend who is described as doing a "Jim Carrey impression throughout the trip." Nonetheless, it is generally described as an "amusing ride," and, what the whatever, it's summer.
It is directed by Todd Phillips and is rated R for strong sexual contact, (that would be the lurid video, I bet), crude humor, language and drug use.
The movie started Thursday at Sunny Isle Theaters.
ROAD TRIP AN 'AMUSING RIDE'
It's summer, beware. Here come the summer films( where one normally loads up on popcorn and looks for a relaxing nap). "Road Trip," one of the season's maiden ventures, has nothing maiden about it. In fact, from some comments, it could use a bit of chastity, but . . .
There's some pretty funny morality going on here, i.e. regarding cheating on one's True Love. "It's not cheating if you're in a different area code, or if you're too wasted to remember it." Words to live by.
Anyway, college boy Josh ( Brekin Meyer, "Clueless") has been doing just that, cheating, and one of his buddies gets it on video tape, which accidentally gets sent to his True Love in Texas, 1800 miles away. Thus, the trip, road and otherwise, gets started.
Josh enlists two of his pals, and they take off from Ithaca, N.Y., scene of the crime, to Texas to retrieve his punctured romance and intercept the tape before it falls into the hands of his TL (Rachel Blanchard). They are apparently navigational challenged as they get Boston and Austin mixed up. Well, they do sort of sound alike.
As Josh, Meyer earns some sympathy from the critics, but they are not as kind to his sidekicks, especially Seann William Scott as his sly, prankster friend, who is described as doing a "Jim Carrey impression throughout the trip." Nonetheless, it is generally described as an "amusing ride," and, what the whatever, it's summer.
It is directed by Todd Phillips and is rated R for strong sexual contact, (that would be the lurid video, I bet), crude humor, language and drug use.
It starts Thursday at Market Square East.
There's some pretty funny morality going on here, i.e. regarding cheating on one's True Love. "It's not cheating if you're in a different area code, or if you're too wasted to remember it." Words to live by.
Anyway, college boy Josh ( Brekin Meyer, "Clueless") has been doing just that, cheating, and one of his buddies gets it on video tape, which accidentally gets sent to his True Love in Texas, 1800 miles away. Thus, the trip, road and otherwise, gets started.
Josh enlists two of his pals, and they take off from Ithaca, N.Y., scene of the crime, to Texas to retrieve his punctured romance and intercept the tape before it falls into the hands of his TL (Rachel Blanchard). They are apparently navigational challenged as they get Boston and Austin mixed up. Well, they do sort of sound alike.
As Josh, Meyer earns some sympathy from the critics, but they are not as kind to his sidekicks, especially Seann William Scott as his sly, prankster friend, who is described as doing a "Jim Carrey impression throughout the trip." Nonetheless, it is generally described as an "amusing ride," and, what the whatever, it's summer.
It is directed by Todd Phillips and is rated R for strong sexual contact, (that would be the lurid video, I bet), crude humor, language and drug use.
It starts Thursday at Market Square East.
CONSOLIDATE OFFSHORE OFFICES WITH OTHER ISLANDS
Dear Source:
In reading about the USVI Department of Tourism offices and the questions as to their effectiveness, I had some observations.
There are, besides the Tourism Department, other USVI entities that should have operations requiring office space stateside. The Industrial Development Commission, the VI Port Authority and the VI Rum Board come to mind. There are also the Leeward Islands, which with the USVI should be considered an economically integrated whole.
In those cases where it is not possible to close offices the Virgin Islands should look to have front and back offices across our departments and integrate tourism offices with its Leeward neighbors.
Richard Bond
In reading about the USVI Department of Tourism offices and the questions as to their effectiveness, I had some observations.
There are, besides the Tourism Department, other USVI entities that should have operations requiring office space stateside. The Industrial Development Commission, the VI Port Authority and the VI Rum Board come to mind. There are also the Leeward Islands, which with the USVI should be considered an economically integrated whole.
In those cases where it is not possible to close offices the Virgin Islands should look to have front and back offices across our departments and integrate tourism offices with its Leeward neighbors.
Richard Bond
VITRAN APPROPRIATION GOING TO PAY BILLS
St. Thomas and St. Croix labor leaders are denouncing what they term the Turnbull administration’s refusal to rehire laid-off public transit workers and charging that funds appropriated for the purpose have been misspent in other ways.
Ralph Mandrew of the Central Labor Council and Luis "Tito" Morales of the United Steelworkers Union said more than half of the $660,000 appropriated by the Legislature to re-hire the 62 Vitran workers and keep them on the payroll until the end of the fiscal year Sept. 30 has been spent elsewhere.
Mandrew represents workers on St. Croix and Morales, those on St. Thomas-St. John, who were furloughed by the Public Works Department on May 11. The layoffs represented half of the total Vitran work force.
The administration's chief labor negotiator, Karen Andrews, said $370,000 of the money, appropriated from the government's Indirect Cost Fund, has already gone to pay outstanding bills incurred by Vitran for fuel, tires and operating expenses.
Morales disputed Andrews’ assertion that the $370,000 was needed for such purposes, saying Public Works Commissioner Harold Thompson Jr. had authorized the use of Vitran fare box receipts to meet those expenses. He said he also was told that the remaining $290,000 was not enough to cover the reinstatement of even some of the laid-off workers.
"They are not bringing back anyone," Morales said of the administration.
In the weeks between the time the layoffs were announced and the date they were implemented, Vitran workers offered to forgo overtime, sick leave and holiday pay and to cut back to a four-day work week in order to preserve their jobs. Andrews refused to enter into talks with the union leaders until Gov. Charles W. Turnbull signed the $660,000 appropriation. Both sides agreed to withhold public comment until the talks were concluded.
Speaking Wednesday morning on WSTA Radio, Andrews said the $660,000 was only part of a $3.6 million financing package put together from money available in various funds. She said the money would go to meet outstanding Vitran obligations through Sept. 30.
She also said the proposed four-day work week did not represent savings equivalent to the administration's 50 percent cut in public transit personnel and operations.
Ralph Mandrew of the Central Labor Council and Luis "Tito" Morales of the United Steelworkers Union said more than half of the $660,000 appropriated by the Legislature to re-hire the 62 Vitran workers and keep them on the payroll until the end of the fiscal year Sept. 30 has been spent elsewhere.
Mandrew represents workers on St. Croix and Morales, those on St. Thomas-St. John, who were furloughed by the Public Works Department on May 11. The layoffs represented half of the total Vitran work force.
The administration's chief labor negotiator, Karen Andrews, said $370,000 of the money, appropriated from the government's Indirect Cost Fund, has already gone to pay outstanding bills incurred by Vitran for fuel, tires and operating expenses.
Morales disputed Andrews’ assertion that the $370,000 was needed for such purposes, saying Public Works Commissioner Harold Thompson Jr. had authorized the use of Vitran fare box receipts to meet those expenses. He said he also was told that the remaining $290,000 was not enough to cover the reinstatement of even some of the laid-off workers.
"They are not bringing back anyone," Morales said of the administration.
In the weeks between the time the layoffs were announced and the date they were implemented, Vitran workers offered to forgo overtime, sick leave and holiday pay and to cut back to a four-day work week in order to preserve their jobs. Andrews refused to enter into talks with the union leaders until Gov. Charles W. Turnbull signed the $660,000 appropriation. Both sides agreed to withhold public comment until the talks were concluded.
Speaking Wednesday morning on WSTA Radio, Andrews said the $660,000 was only part of a $3.6 million financing package put together from money available in various funds. She said the money would go to meet outstanding Vitran obligations through Sept. 30.
She also said the proposed four-day work week did not represent savings equivalent to the administration's 50 percent cut in public transit personnel and operations.
VITRAN APPROPRIATION GOING TO PAY BILLS
St. Thomas and St. Croix labor leaders are denouncing what they term the Turnbull administration’s refusal to rehire laid-off public transit workers and charging that funds appropriated for the purpose have been misspent in other ways.
Ralph Mandrew of the Central Labor Council and Luis "Tito" Morales of the United Steelworkers Union said more than half of the $660,000 appropriated by the Legislature to re-hire the 62 Vitran workers and keep them on the payroll until the end of the fiscal year Sept. 30 has been spent elsewhere.
Mandrew represents workers on St. Thomas and St. John and Morales, those on St. Croix, who were furloughed by the Public Works Department on May 11. The layoffs represented half of the total Vitran work force.
The administration's chief labor negotiator, Karen Andrews, said $370,000 of the money, appropriated from the government's Indirect Cost Fund, has already gone to pay outstanding bills incurred by Vitran for fuel, tires and operating expenses.
Morales disputed Andrews’ assertion that the $370,000 was needed for such purposes, saying Public Works Commissioner Harold Thompson Jr. had authorized the use of Vitran fare box receipts to meet those expenses. He said he also was told that the remaining $290,000 was not enough to cover the reinstatement of even some of the laid-off workers.
"They are not bringing back anyone," Morales said of the administration.
In the weeks between the time the layoffs were announced and the date they were implemented, Vitran workers offered to forgo overtime, sick leave and holiday pay and to cut back to a four-day work week in order to preserve their jobs. Andrews refused to enter into talks with the union leaders until Gov. Charles W. Turnbull signed the $660,000 appropriation. Both sides agreed to withhold public comment until the talks were concluded.
Speaking Wednesday morning on WSTA Radio, Andrews said the $660,000 was only part of a $3.6 million financing package put together from money available in various funds. She said the money would go to meet outstanding Vitran obligations through Sept. 30.
She also said the proposed four-day work week did not represent savings equivalent to the administration's 50 percent cut in public transit personnel and operations.
Ralph Mandrew of the Central Labor Council and Luis "Tito" Morales of the United Steelworkers Union said more than half of the $660,000 appropriated by the Legislature to re-hire the 62 Vitran workers and keep them on the payroll until the end of the fiscal year Sept. 30 has been spent elsewhere.
Mandrew represents workers on St. Thomas and St. John and Morales, those on St. Croix, who were furloughed by the Public Works Department on May 11. The layoffs represented half of the total Vitran work force.
The administration's chief labor negotiator, Karen Andrews, said $370,000 of the money, appropriated from the government's Indirect Cost Fund, has already gone to pay outstanding bills incurred by Vitran for fuel, tires and operating expenses.
Morales disputed Andrews’ assertion that the $370,000 was needed for such purposes, saying Public Works Commissioner Harold Thompson Jr. had authorized the use of Vitran fare box receipts to meet those expenses. He said he also was told that the remaining $290,000 was not enough to cover the reinstatement of even some of the laid-off workers.
"They are not bringing back anyone," Morales said of the administration.
In the weeks between the time the layoffs were announced and the date they were implemented, Vitran workers offered to forgo overtime, sick leave and holiday pay and to cut back to a four-day work week in order to preserve their jobs. Andrews refused to enter into talks with the union leaders until Gov. Charles W. Turnbull signed the $660,000 appropriation. Both sides agreed to withhold public comment until the talks were concluded.
Speaking Wednesday morning on WSTA Radio, Andrews said the $660,000 was only part of a $3.6 million financing package put together from money available in various funds. She said the money would go to meet outstanding Vitran obligations through Sept. 30.
She also said the proposed four-day work week did not represent savings equivalent to the administration's 50 percent cut in public transit personnel and operations.
3 HONORED FOR THEIR WORK CONTRIBUTIONS
Rotary Club of St. Thomas East has honored a teacher, a Girl Scout executive and a watersports pioneer as this year's recipients of its Vocational Excellence Awards.
The awards recognize individuals who have demonstrated a high degree of competence, effectiveness and enthusiasm in their vocation. The 2000 honorees, Fern Callwood, Idalia "Dolly" Dockery and Jimmy Loveland, were announced at the regular Rotary East meeting Wednesday evening..
Callwood chairs and serves as faculty advisor for the Family and Consumer Science Department at Ivanna Eudora Kean High School. She was recognized for her support of students and activities at the school.
Dockery is with the U.S. Virgin Islands Girl Scout Council. She was commended for serving as a positive role model and providing excellent leadership skills for young women and girls in the territory through the Girl Scout program.
Loveland, who came to St. Thomas in 1964 to work with Johnny Harms in developing deep-sea fishing in the territory, started his own business, Treasure Isle Cruises, in 1970. As captain of the Fish'n Fool, he has introduced countless locals and visitors to the waterways of the U.S. and British Virgin Islands. He is founding president of the not-for-profit Mangrove Lagoon Waterway Village and Eco Preserve, established to clean and revitalize the Benner Bay Lagoon area.
The awards recognize individuals who have demonstrated a high degree of competence, effectiveness and enthusiasm in their vocation. The 2000 honorees, Fern Callwood, Idalia "Dolly" Dockery and Jimmy Loveland, were announced at the regular Rotary East meeting Wednesday evening..
Callwood chairs and serves as faculty advisor for the Family and Consumer Science Department at Ivanna Eudora Kean High School. She was recognized for her support of students and activities at the school.
Dockery is with the U.S. Virgin Islands Girl Scout Council. She was commended for serving as a positive role model and providing excellent leadership skills for young women and girls in the territory through the Girl Scout program.
Loveland, who came to St. Thomas in 1964 to work with Johnny Harms in developing deep-sea fishing in the territory, started his own business, Treasure Isle Cruises, in 1970. As captain of the Fish'n Fool, he has introduced countless locals and visitors to the waterways of the U.S. and British Virgin Islands. He is founding president of the not-for-profit Mangrove Lagoon Waterway Village and Eco Preserve, established to clean and revitalize the Benner Bay Lagoon area.
THE LEATHER SHOP IS CALLING IT QUITS
Another mainstay of Main Street will soon fade from the scene. The Leather Shop, a downtown fixture for 33 years, will close its doors at the end of July or early August, according to owner Kathryn Peterson.
"It's a lot of things coming together at the same time," Peterson said of the reason for her decision. "I'm ready to do something else." The local market is moving in a different direction, she added, and "with the general economy, it's time to quit."
That difference in direction is evident to those who can remember when Main Street was known as the "Rodeo Drive of the Caribbean," a comparison to the pricey Beverly Hills shopping area of preference for Hollywood's rich and famous. On today's Main Street, shops selling gold chains by the inch, electronics and cheap T-shirts have all but taken over. It appears that an appetite for electronic goods has "replaced the desire for fine china and crystal," Peterson said.
"The Leather Shop predates me," she said, recalling that she came to the islands in the early 1980s and took over the store from Wyatt McCants and Harry Snook, who had started it in 1967.
"The barkers and the carnival atmosphere have changed things," she said. "The lovely shops like Maison Danoise aren't here any more." Island residents as well as tourists used to head downtown to shop for "really interesting things," she said, adding with a sigh, "I've watched the variety of shops shrink over the past 20 years, a little more each year."
In May, Peterson closed her other Main Street business, the Sargasso boutique, basically for the same reasons, even though "we had a loyal local clientele there." Last year, she consolidated what had been three separate leather goods stores on Main Street — the flagship Leather Shop and outlets for the Fendi and Coach lines — into the main location that is now about to close.
Her immediate plans for the future, she said, are to "catch up on all those things I've been meaning to do for the past 20 years."
A new Diamonds International jewelry store will take over the location.
"It's a lot of things coming together at the same time," Peterson said of the reason for her decision. "I'm ready to do something else." The local market is moving in a different direction, she added, and "with the general economy, it's time to quit."
That difference in direction is evident to those who can remember when Main Street was known as the "Rodeo Drive of the Caribbean," a comparison to the pricey Beverly Hills shopping area of preference for Hollywood's rich and famous. On today's Main Street, shops selling gold chains by the inch, electronics and cheap T-shirts have all but taken over. It appears that an appetite for electronic goods has "replaced the desire for fine china and crystal," Peterson said.
"The Leather Shop predates me," she said, recalling that she came to the islands in the early 1980s and took over the store from Wyatt McCants and Harry Snook, who had started it in 1967.
"The barkers and the carnival atmosphere have changed things," she said. "The lovely shops like Maison Danoise aren't here any more." Island residents as well as tourists used to head downtown to shop for "really interesting things," she said, adding with a sigh, "I've watched the variety of shops shrink over the past 20 years, a little more each year."
In May, Peterson closed her other Main Street business, the Sargasso boutique, basically for the same reasons, even though "we had a loyal local clientele there." Last year, she consolidated what had been three separate leather goods stores on Main Street — the flagship Leather Shop and outlets for the Fendi and Coach lines — into the main location that is now about to close.
Her immediate plans for the future, she said, are to "catch up on all those things I've been meaning to do for the past 20 years."
A new Diamonds International jewelry store will take over the location.
PUBLIC WORKS AGAIN DISCHARGING SEWAGE INTO SEA
A problem with the fuel distribution system in an auxiliary pump at the Department of Public Works’ LBJ pump station is allowing sewage to flow into the sea beyond Long Reef in the La Grande Princesse area, Public Works Commissioner Harold Thompson Jr. said in a release Wednesday afternoon.
He did not say how much sewage was involved and was vague as to when the pump would be repaired, saying only that parts will be available "within the next few days." He recommended that the public avoid the water in the La Grande Princesse and LBJ area in the meantime.
Sewage discharges at the LBJ pump station are not new. During the latter part of last year problems with the station’s pumps forced Public Works to bypass hundreds of thousands of gallons of untreated sewage over Long Reef. Nearby beaches had to be closed, including those in the "condo row" area just west of the pump station.
On May 30, a federal judge ordered Public Works to have the LBJ pump station, along with other parts of St. Croix’s wastewater system, fully operational within 30 days. Judge Thomas Moore told Public Works officials he expected to be informed by June 9 about the status of a six-inch diversionary pump that would be used at LBJ instead of the four-inch pump that caused the most recent discharge.
Moore warned the Turnbull administration that if the June 30 deadline is missed, government employees could face contempt charges.
More information on the current discharge is available from Public Works’ Utilities Division at 773-1290, ext. 2263 or 2264.
He did not say how much sewage was involved and was vague as to when the pump would be repaired, saying only that parts will be available "within the next few days." He recommended that the public avoid the water in the La Grande Princesse and LBJ area in the meantime.
Sewage discharges at the LBJ pump station are not new. During the latter part of last year problems with the station’s pumps forced Public Works to bypass hundreds of thousands of gallons of untreated sewage over Long Reef. Nearby beaches had to be closed, including those in the "condo row" area just west of the pump station.
On May 30, a federal judge ordered Public Works to have the LBJ pump station, along with other parts of St. Croix’s wastewater system, fully operational within 30 days. Judge Thomas Moore told Public Works officials he expected to be informed by June 9 about the status of a six-inch diversionary pump that would be used at LBJ instead of the four-inch pump that caused the most recent discharge.
Moore warned the Turnbull administration that if the June 30 deadline is missed, government employees could face contempt charges.
More information on the current discharge is available from Public Works’ Utilities Division at 773-1290, ext. 2263 or 2264.
2 JUSTICE EMPLOYEES CHARGED WITH FRAUD
Two employees of the V.I. Justice Department’s Paternity and Child Support Division were charged Wednesday with embezzlement and fraud.
The unidentified employees were apprehended by the department’s Public Corruption Task Force, Attorney General Iver Stridiron said in a release Wednesday afternoon. One case concerns the alleged embezzling of an unspecified amount of child support funds, he said, and the second involves public-assistance fraud.
Justice Criminal Division chief Guy Mitchell would say only that formal charges would be filed against the two employees on Thursday.
"These charges come after an exhaustive audit and investigation of the child support accounts and the individuals who maintained them," Stridiron said. He credited Paternity and Child Support personnel and staff from the V.I. Inspector General's Office with assisting in the investigation.
"We are confident that the actions of the accused employees did not cause any child to miss any of the support provided by the parents that love and care for them," he also said.
The Public Corruption Task Force, formed by Gov. Charles W. Turnbull, has the mandate to "expose fraud wherever it exists in the Virgin Islands government, past and current," Stridiron said. The two cases "represent the results of just two of the many audits and investigations recently completed by the task force," he said, and "additional cases will be filed in the near future."
Earlier this year, Stridiron filed 14 counts of fraud, conspiracy and falsification of records against former Gov. Roy L. Schneider and three members of his staff for allegedly housing Walter Brunner, a non-essential government contractor, in a hotel room at Marriott's Frenchman’s Reef Beach Resort after Hurricane Marilyn in 1995. The bill for the room, which was registered under the name of Jean P. Greaux Jr., Schneider's electronic media specialist, totaled around $36,000.
Charges against all the defendants were dropped after Schneider paid the government approximately $50,000.
The unidentified employees were apprehended by the department’s Public Corruption Task Force, Attorney General Iver Stridiron said in a release Wednesday afternoon. One case concerns the alleged embezzling of an unspecified amount of child support funds, he said, and the second involves public-assistance fraud.
Justice Criminal Division chief Guy Mitchell would say only that formal charges would be filed against the two employees on Thursday.
"These charges come after an exhaustive audit and investigation of the child support accounts and the individuals who maintained them," Stridiron said. He credited Paternity and Child Support personnel and staff from the V.I. Inspector General's Office with assisting in the investigation.
"We are confident that the actions of the accused employees did not cause any child to miss any of the support provided by the parents that love and care for them," he also said.
The Public Corruption Task Force, formed by Gov. Charles W. Turnbull, has the mandate to "expose fraud wherever it exists in the Virgin Islands government, past and current," Stridiron said. The two cases "represent the results of just two of the many audits and investigations recently completed by the task force," he said, and "additional cases will be filed in the near future."
Earlier this year, Stridiron filed 14 counts of fraud, conspiracy and falsification of records against former Gov. Roy L. Schneider and three members of his staff for allegedly housing Walter Brunner, a non-essential government contractor, in a hotel room at Marriott's Frenchman’s Reef Beach Resort after Hurricane Marilyn in 1995. The bill for the room, which was registered under the name of Jean P. Greaux Jr., Schneider's electronic media specialist, totaled around $36,000.
Charges against all the defendants were dropped after Schneider paid the government approximately $50,000.
