Running on a course he practically was raised on, Sheldon Williams won the annual Olympic Day Run 2 Mile on Saturday.
Williams tore up the flat, out-and-back course that started at the Fort Frederik Museum to Rainbow Beach and then back. He led a dedicated group of some 30 runners across the finish line in 10 minutes and 58 seconds.
Theresa Harper, running the race for the first time, led the women in 13 minutes and 1 second. They joined a group of young runners, who are being trained by Sheldon William’s father, Dr. Marlon Williams. The runners call themselves "Billy Goat Massive."
Dr. Williams, a four-time Olympian and Vice President of the Virgin Islands Olympic Committee, represented the VIOC. He talked about the Olympic movement, the preparation for the upcoming Sydney Olympics and presented awards.
Jeremy Laurent was the second place mens finisher in 11:31; George Willocks was third in 12:05; Bromley Martin fourth in 12:12; Kemron Butler fifth in 12:43 and Gunnar Sunden sixth in 13:12.
Earthla Arthur was the second place woman in 13:46; Dana Branch third in 16:18; Niarus Benjamin fourth in 16:42; Ellen Donovan fifth in 16:43 and Anna Kowalska was sixth in 16:58.
The Olympic run is held annually around the world and is sponsored by the International Olympic Committee and the International Amateur Athletic Federation. It is hosted by the Virgin Islands Olympic Committee, sanctioned by the Virgin Islands Track and Field Federation and organized by The Virgin Islands Pace Runners.
Each runner received special Olympic Certificates, Olympic t-shirt and a Virgin Islands Olympic Pin. This year a special raffle was set for the runners who ran under 12 minutes, under 14 minutes under 16 minutes and everyone else.
Sheldon Williams won a Lime tree, Bromley Martin a Mango tree, Ryan Smith a Lime tree and Robin Franks (a gift from Jason Williams, the raffle winner and Jason's classmate) a Lime Tree. These runners agreed to plant and care for their tree over the next Olympiad, to share good words and thoughts on the experience on race day 2004.
The Finishers Male: 1.Sheldon Williams 10:58; 2. Jeremy Laurent 11:31; 3. George Willocks 12:05l; 4. Bromley 12:12; 5. Kemron Butler 12:42; 6. Gunnar Sanden 13:12; 7. Donald Shillingford 13:38; 8. Luke Frederick 14:25; 9. Michael Palicia 14:31; 10. Angel Rodriqez 14:38; 11. Ryan Smith 14:39; 12. Jim Hollis 14:46; 13. Milton Francis 15:52; 14. Tom Alcon 15:53; 15. Jack Branch 17:10; 16. Robin Franks 18:44; 17. Jason Williams 20:03; 18. Peter Brown 21:08; 19. Canute Brodhurst 25:47
The Finishers Female: 1.Theresa Harper 13:01; 2. Earthla Arthur 13:46; 3. Dana Branch 16:18; 4. Niarus Benjamin 16:42; 5. Ellen Donovan 16:43; 6. Anna Kowalska 16:58; 7. Nomalina Martin 22:20; 8. Alifa Devora 25:11; 9. Anika Nicholas 25:39; 10. Lauria Knight 27:49; 11. Linel Williams 27:49; 12. Alvina M. Martin 34:30; 13. Donela Shillingford 34:31; 14. Pamela Shillingford 38:09; 14. Pat Oliver 38:09.
The next race on the V.I. Pace Runners’ schedule is the Emancipation Day "Run Free" on July 3 at 7 a.m. in Frederiksted.

Congratulations to this year's graduating classes are being passed out of Delegate to Congress Donna Christian Christensen’s office, with special recognition to her nominees for the armed service academies and the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation scholarship for 2000.
The students are Morgan Callendar; Miguel Camacho; and Jesus Soler, Khalilaj Espada and Al-J Edwards. Callendar, the valedictorian for the Charlotte Amalie High School, will join the Air Force Academy's Class of 2004 in Colorado; Camacho, the valedictorian for Country Day School, will attend the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland; and Jesus Soler, student of the year at Ivanna Eudora Kean High School, will attend the West Point Military Academy in New York.
Both Espada and Edwards, graduates of CAHS and IEKHS respectively, will receive scholarships of $500 for the upcoming school year.
"We have some very hard working students here in the territory, and I have no doubt that this year's nominees to the academies will excel in their respective programs. Although one of our nominees, Jon Francis Megahy of Country Day School was unable to be admitted to the Naval and Air Force academies because he was a few weeks shy of the age requirement, I commend him for his outstanding performance in high school. His absence, I am sure, will be a loss to both of these institutions," Delegate Christensen said.
Students who are interested in obtaining more information about educational opportunities through the armed service academies or the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation should contact the Congressional District Offices at 774-4408 or 778-5900.

Delegate to Congress Donna Christian Christensen and her Guamanian counterpart have fired off letters to the House Ways and Means Committee following an announcement by the Clinton Administration of its proposal to amend the Foreign Sales Corporation program.
Christensen and Delegate Robert Underwood of Guam wrote to leaders of the Ways and Means Committee to remind them of the importance of the FSC program to the economies of respective territories. In the V.I. alone, the FSC program generates approximately $7 million annually in franchise taxes.
A key component of the present FSC program is the ability of U.S. companies to lower their U.S. income tax liability by channeling their export income through foreign sales corporations. Congress established the FSC system as an alternative to a previous program to which U.S. trade partners, particularly the European Union, had objected.
Exporters began using FSCs, offshore subsidiaries, in 1985. A portion of the export sales run through the FSC are exempt from federal taxes.
Earlier this year, the World Trade Organization’s appellate body upheld an earlier decision that the FSC program represents a tax subsidy forbidden under WTO rules. Congress must vote on legislation to create a new FSC law by Oct. 1.
"Because the Virgin Islands and Guam have a tax-free relationship with U.S. taxing authorities and are under the jurisdiction of U.S. courts, we have become a natural area to set up rules and regulations to franchise FCSs," Christensen and Underwood said in their letters. "The already ailing local economies of our respective districts cannot afford to lose the substantial economic benefits of the FSC program."
Along with the revenues generated from FSC franchise fees, additional income is generated in the territories by banks that may hold FSC funds as well as by hotels and retail establishments that benefit from local annual meetings of FSC directors and shareholders.
Christensen said that in the last two months she has met with the U.S. Trade Representative and the Treasury Department twice to discuss how the new FSC program would continue to provide the same advantages that the territories currently enjoy.

Delegate to Congress Donna Christian Christensen and her Guamanian counterpart have fired off letters to the House Ways and Means Committee following an announcement that the Foreign Sales Corporation program will be amended.
Christensen and Delegate Robert Underwood of Guam reminded leaders of the committee of the importance of the FSC program to territorial economies. In the V.I. alone, the program generates approximately $7 million annually in franchise taxes.
Exporters began using FSCs, offshore subsidiaries, in 1985. A portion of the export sales run through an FSC is exempt from federal taxes.
Earlier this year, the World Trade Organization’s appellate body upheld an earlier decision that the FSC program represents a tax subsidy, forbidden under WTO rules. Congress must vote on legislation to create a new FSC law by Oct. 1.
"Because the Virgin Islands and Guam have a tax-free relationship with U.S. taxing authorities and are under the jurisdiction of U.S. courts, we have become a natural area to set up rules and regulations to franchise FCSs," Christensen and Underwood said in their letters. "The already ailing local economies of our respective districts cannot afford to lose the substantial economic benefits of the FSC program."
Along with the income generated from FSC franchise fees, local banks make money by holding FSC funds, while hotels and retail establishments benefit from annual meetings of FSC directors and shareholders.
In the last two months, Christensen said she has met twice with the U.S. Trade Representative and the Treasury Department to discuss how the new FSC program could continue to provide the advantages that the territories currently enjoy.
Congress established the FSC system as an alternative to a previous program to which U.S. trade partners, particularly the European Union, had objected.

Eleven years after Hurricane Hugo and six years after Hurricane Marilyn, emergency planners are trying to replace public apprehension with public preparation. And with the 2000 tropical storm season under way, the word to the wise is, "the sooner the better."
To encourage island residents to get ready long before any hurricane even threatens to strike, the V.I. Territorial Emergency Management Agency, several other emergency response agencies and a number of local retail businesses held a preparedness fair in Cruz Bay Park on Saturday.
Representatives of the National Park Service, V.I. Fire Services, St. John Rescue, the Planning and Natural Resources Department and the Environmental Research Station at Lameshur Bay displayed emergency vehicles and equipment they use to coordinate operations during and after a major storm. Also on exhibit were the kinds of items people can — and should – – assemble at home ahead of time: first-aid kits, canned goods, checklists of emergency supplies, and action plans to be carried out 36, 24, 12 and 6 hours before the predicted landfall of a major storm.
Vitema deputy director Alvis Christian said he invited local supermarkets, drug stores and hardware stores to take part in this year's fair as a reminder for shoppers to start stocking up early on non-perishable supplies.
Such public outreach is just one phase of VITEMA's work in the early part of the hurricane season. Since mid-March, Christian and other agency officials have been meeting monthly to plan inspections and go over the latest hurricane forecasts.
Planners have decided to retain Emmaus Moravian Church in Coral Bay and Bethany Moravian Church about a mile east of Cruz Bay as the island's primary emergency shelters and have inspected both sites. The island's two public schools, Guy H. Benjamin in Coral Bay and Julius E. Sprauve in Cruz Bay, have been designated as distribution centers and emergency food stations.
Inspections have also been conducted at two secondary emergency shelters, the Methodist Church in Enighed and the Clarice Thomas Annex at Sprauve School. During the last major emergency, in 1995, the Thomas Annex was a primary shelter; structural problems led planners to shift to the Bethany Church for Hurricane Georges in 1998 and Tropical Storm Jose and Hurricane Lenny in 1999.
The island's two fire stations, Romeo Company in Coral Bay and Zulu Company in Cruz Bay, will be in charge of sand bag distribution — work previously handled by the Public Works Department at Gifft Hill.
Christian said that with budget constraints, he is trying to make scarce resources suffice. "In emergency management, you constantly have to deal with what you have," he said.
The next VITEMA planning meeting is scheduled for St. John, at 10:30 a.m. on June 22 in the agency offices on the first floor of the Public Works building in Susannaberg.

In the wake of yet another landfill fire in the territory, the Senate Committee on Planning and Environmental Protection is set to meet to ask the Turnbull administration the oft-repeated question: What is being done to stop the blazes?
In a letter to Department of Public Works Commissioner Harold Thompson Jr. on Monday, Sen. Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg, chairman of the committee, asked about the latest fire at the Anguilla Landfill on St. Croix, which was extinguished four days after it ignited earlier in June. The fire was the sixth this year at the Big Island’s dump.
"I was deeply disturbed to note that St. Croix residents and landfill workers are still being subjected to toxic smoke and fumes from the recent Anguilla Landfill fires," Donastorg wrote. "As these fires were burning out of control, it became obvious that your agency has yet to develop an effective fire-management plan."
Donastorg’s query comes after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ordered the cleanup of the Bovoni Landfill on St. Thomas, which has the same problems as the Anguilla dump, and its announcement that it may take over regulatory control of both landfills.
On May 8, the EPA announced its intention to remove regulatory jurisdiction from the local government. Before it makes the move, however, two public hearings will be held, the first on June 27 at 7 p.m. at the Department of Education Curriculum Center in Tutu on St. Thomas and the second at 7 p.m. on June 28 at the Curriculum Center on St. Croix.
After the hearings, the EPA will make a final decision on whether to formally disapprove the territory’s solid-waste landfill program. The agency expects the process to take at least until August 8.
In early April, the EPA ordered Public Works to clean up the Bovoni Landfill, calling it a threat to human health and the environment. The order, issued with the consent of Gov. Charles Turnbull, is one step short of unilateral action to force compliance.
The clean-up order called for Public Works to begin:
— Conducting random inspections of incoming waste loads, including loads coming from the Susannaberg Transfer Station on St. John, to ensure that hazardous waste is not mixed in with solid waste.
— Training landfill personnel and posting lists of prohibited items throughout the facility.
— Covering the operating face of the landfill with at least six inches of earth at the end of each operating day to control insect and animal infestations and scavenging by people and birds.
— Within 30 days submit to EPA a financial plan for carrying out the order, including the estimated cost of all work to be done and how the government will pay for it.
— Within 60 days ship all used oil being stored at Bovoni to an authorized used-oil recycling facility.
— Fully secure the landfill by installing wire mesh fencing at least 10 feet high, and repair all holes in the existing fencing. The new fencing will include an entrance gate that will be locked when the landfill is not operating.
— Within 90 days ship all lead-acid batteries and battery parts at Bovoni to an authorized recycling facility.
— Submit a plan to EPA to remove and remediate contaminated soil around buried lead-acid batteries. Once EPA reviews and approves the plan, it is to be implemented by the Virgin Islands according to a set timetable.
— Submit a plan to EPA to remediate spilled used oil at Bovoni, similar to the disposal plan for the batteries.
— Submit a plan to EPA to investigate subsurface fires at the landfill. Once EPA has had an opportunity to comment on the plan, the Virgin Islands will begin its investigation. If it is found that fires are burning at Bovoni, the government will within 60 days adopt a plan for putting out the fires.
— Within 120 days submit a plan to EPA to bring the Bovoni landfill into compliance with all federal landfill regulations, including measures for monitoring groundwater and collecting leachate and a timetable for doing the work. The plan will be subject to EPA comment.
— Within 180 days submit to EPA a written plan for the future management of lead-acid batteries and used oil at Bovoni. The plan will include prohibiting the disposal of non-household lead-acid batteries in the landfill and will indicate an alternate location for their disposal.
With the EPA mandates in mind, Donastorg on Monday asked Thompson to be prepared to answer a number of questions at the Planning and Environmental Protection hearing later this month. Those include:
-– The status of the Bovoni cleanup.
–- What steps has Public Works taken to manage underground fires and to extinguish any surface outbreaks?
–- What has Public Works done to monitor and protect the health of residents, landfill employees and other exposed to the smoke and fumes? Has air quality sampling taken place?
–- What was the specific cause of the last fire at the Anguilla Landfill?
In his letter, Donastorg said he was "gravely disappointed" in Public Works' management of solid waste. He said simple and inexpensive security and inspection measures could have eliminated many of the problems now plaguing the landfills.
"DPW continues to jeopardize public health and the environment and I will stay on their case until I see some real progress," Donastorg said.

The Board of Directors of the Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands invite members to the annual meeting to be held at 12 noon on Friday, June 16, at Crown and Anchor Club in Hibiscus Alley.
CFVI ANGELS are requested to wear their ANGEL ribbons
Phone 774-6031 for further information.

The Board of Directors of the Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands invites members to attend the annual meeting to be held at 12 noon on Friday, June 16, at the Crown and Anchor Club in Hibiscus Alley.
Lunch is $12.
Phone 774-6031 for further information.

The United Way Board of Directors will meet at 12 noon on Thursday, June 15, in the St.Thomas/St.John Chamber Conference Room.For additional information call 774-3185.

The Excise Tax Offices located at Crown Bay and Air Cargo will be closed at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, June 14. Normal operating hours will resume at 8 a.m. on Thursday, June 15.
The director will be meeting with all enforcement officers in the St. Thomas District, including those stationed at the satellite offices at the ports of entry.