The Safety Zone will hold its fourth annual fashion show at 6 p.m. Friday, June 2 at the Equator room at Caneel Bay Resort.
"This is one of the major social events of the year on St. John. It brings together every segment of the community with donations from virtually every shop on the island," said Iris Kern.
Kern is the director of the Safety Zone, an advocacy organization providing social services to residents of St. John.
"The theme of the fashion show is 'Play'," she said. "In this land of sun and fun, we think play is number one."
Jan Trainor, whose talents as a fashion coordinator are highly praised by Kern, has selected the clothes. "She has such good visualization, selecting just the right outfit for each male and female model."
Sam Topp will be the master of ceremonies. Carlie Powell and the Paradise People will provide live music. Barbie Berry will serve as the DJ for a portion of the evening.
There will be 64 models ranging from 8 months old to seniors, from infants to size 24. They will include Carlos deBiasi, Linda Smith Palmer, Carmen Wesselhoft, Ina Lee, Peter Alter, Sherece Smith and Julien Harley. The grand event of the evening will be a wedding with Robert Luke as the groom (chill, ladies, it is not official).
The evening begins with hors d'oeuvres prepared by Tropical Foods, Marina Market, Caneel Bay and Katy Lady Catering. Two drinks are part of the ticket price and a cash bar will operate throughout the evening.
Raffle tickets at $5. each or five for $20. will be sold. The prizes are gift certificates from Columbian Emeralds ($500.) and Kariba ($300.), dinner for two at the Westin ($250.), a full body massage, and a pedicure/manicure.
A silent auction will also be held with items from each of the shops who will have merchandise in the fashion show, a golf package, and a weekend at Caneel among the items to be auctioned.
Donation is $35. per person. Tickets can be purchased at St. John Drug Center or Connections on St. John and Red Hook Mail Services on St. Thomas. For more information, call Dr. Iris Kern at 690-SAFE or 693-SAFE.

The Safety Zone will hold its fourth annual fashion show at 6 p.m. Friday, June 2 at the Equator room at Caneel Bay Resort.
"This is one of the major social events of the year on St. John. It brings together every segment of the community with donations from virtually every shop on the island," said Iris Kern.
Kern is the director of the Safety Zone, an advocacy organization providing social services to residents of St. John.
"The theme of the fashion show is 'Play'," she said. "In this land of sun and fun, we think play is number one."
Jan Trainor, whose talents as a fashion coordinator are highly praised by Kern, has selected the clothes. "She has such good visualization, selecting just the right outfit for each male and female model."
Sam Topp will be the master of ceremonies. Carlie Powell and the Paradise People will provide live music. Barbie Berry will serve as the DJ for a portion of the evening.
There will be 64 models ranging from 8 months old to seniors, from infants to size 24. They will include Carlos deBiasi, Linda Smith Palmer, Carmen Wesselhoft, Ina Lee, Peter Alter, Sherece Smith and Julien Harley. The grand event of the evening will be a wedding with Robert Luke as the groom (chill, ladies, it is not official).
The evening begins with hors d'oeuvres prepared by Tropical Foods, Marina Market, Caneel Bay and Katy Lady Catering. Two drinks are part of the ticket price and a cash bar will operate throughout the evening.
Raffle tickets at $5. each or five for $20. will be sold. The prizes are gift certificates from Columbian Emeralds ($500.) and Kariba ($300.), dinner for two at the Westin ($250.), a full body massage, and a pedicure/manicure.
A silent auction will also be held with items from each of the shops who will have merchandise in the fashion show, a golf package, and a weekend at Caneel among the items to be auctioned.
Donation is $35. per person. Tickets can be purchased at St. John Drug Center or Connections on St. John and Red Hook Mail Services on St. Thomas. For more information, call Dr. Iris Kern at 690-SAFE or 693-SAFE.

"Simply the Best" reads a bright, sparkling sign which hangs over the artwork on display in the auditorium of Kirwan Terrace Elementary School. Asked if this is the theme of the art show, teacher Julie Armbruster quickly said, "no, that's our awards ceremony motto," but then she thought about it, and said "well, yes, perhaps it should be."
The stage is filled with drawings, paintings and some collages assembled by the students who range from kindergarten to sixth grade. Armbruster, with the thoughtfulness of a museum guide, provided a tour through the exhibit, starting with the "Peace through Art"section.
"I asked the students to think of what peace means to them, especially in getting along with each other,"she said. And she got some graphic answers. The paintings show different ethnic groups at play, saving one another from calamities like drowning, and answering the call of the conch blower.
Armbruster has taught in the public school system for 21 years, 10 at Kirwan Terrace where she teaches all grades, and 11 prior to that at Dober Elementary School. Her love of her profession is almost infectious. "Children are basically formed by the time they are ten," she said. "They need attention and understanding when they are young, and no amount of money thrown at them after that will make up for it," she said, adding that she didn't mean to really get into her theories about child-rearing.
But, it makes sense, and the children's art reflects her attention to them."I ask them to draw about what they know,"she said. "For instance, I ask them to draw their mother, what color is her hair, her shoes, is she tired today?" These are things they are familiar with, Armbruster pointed out, "so they can draw to express their feelings about what they know."
One of the most whimsical displays was in response to the question, "What's above the trees?" One youngster's answer was an airplane labeled "Jet Census 2000."
"You get to see what's in their hearts," Armbruster said. Kevin Stridiron was running around the stage, anxious to show off his carnival drawing of a clown. "Come on, come look, " he said, "this is what I saw!" His clown, indeed, looked like a clown. Others took on all sorts of guises, including that of a "peace warrior." Asked what that was, really, third-grader Dekeshawl Abbott said "that's how it is." Ok.

Delegate to Congress Donna M. Christian-Christensen said she is actively recruiting Virgin Islands students to fill two designated positions for the New York-based U.S. Merchant Marine Academy Program.
The academy offers a four-year undergraduate program which leads to a bachelor of science degree, a U.S. Coast Guard license as a third mate or third assistant engineer, and a commission as an ensign in the U.S. Naval Reserve. Up to 10 students can be nominated by the Delegate to Congress for each position annually.
"This is an excellent opportunity for our students to learn how to navigate the waters that we so often take for granted here in the Virgin Islands," Christensen said. "I encourage our young people to take advantage of opportunities such as this to explore the beautiful gift we have right here."
Students interested in the program should be at least age 17 and should contact Elena Shaubah in the St. Croix Congressional Office at 778-5900 for more information.

Innovative Communication Corp., the parent of a host of telecommunications companies in the territory, announced the layoffs Thursday of 18 people from four of its companies.
ICC officials attributed the layoffs to the "drastic downturn" in the Virgin Islands economy and a year-long "consolidation process." The "profitability and financial soundness" of ICC were the priority in the decision to ax the employees, as was stabilizing rates for customers of its subsidiaries, according to Tom Minnich, ICC chief operating officer.
The company owns the V.I. Telephone Corp., VitelCellular, Vitelcom, the Virgin Islands Daily News, St. Thomas-St. John Cable TV, St. Croix Cable TV, ICC-TV and VI PowerNet. ICC employs approximately 660 people. The chairman of the $400-million ICC empire is St. Croix businessman Jeffrey Prosser.
Those laid off held management positions — 12 with Vitelco, four with VitelCellular and one each with Vitelcom and the cable operations, according to Holland Redfield, ICC vice president for corporate affairs.
The layoffs won’t affect Vitelco’s Industrial Development Commission tax breaks, which are contingent on the company maintaining a specific number of workers, Minnich said. The phone company was granted the tax benefits in a controversial move made during former Gov. Roy Schneider’s administration three years ago. They exempt Vitelco from all property, gross receipts and excise taxes, and from 90 percent of income taxes.
"We will maintain the level of employment that is required" under the IDC program, Minnich said in a press release. He said Vitelco’s contract with its unionized workers was unaffected by the layoffs.
In response to the layoffs, Sen. Adlah "Foncie" Donastorg, a staunch critic of Vitelco’s IDC benefits, accused ICC of importing people to fill management positions at the phone company at the same time it is firing locals.
The layoffs prompted Donastorg to again call for a Public Service Commission-led rate investigation of Vitelco, a move ICC and phone company officials have repeatedly fought. Donastorg said that since a rate inquiry hasn’t been conducted for several years, ICC’s claim that the layoffs were done to stabilize rates is unfounded. Basically, he said, the government doesn’t know exactly what Vitelco’s rate of return is and therefore the company "continues to operate as it wishes."
He also noted that the layoffs came two days after Prosser’s V.I. Community Bank — which is owned outright by Prosser, not by ICC — declined to accept the conditions imposed by the V.I. Banking Board in granting approval of VICB's bid to acquire the local assets of Chase Manhattan Bank.
"I would hate to think this is a spiteful gesture . . . because ICC didn’t get what it wanted from the Banking Board," Donastorg said.
Redfield said ICC offered an early retirement program to help trim expenses but the effort didn’t meet the company's financial goals. ICC has an annual payroll of more than $40 million. The laid-off workers will receive a "separation package" and assistance in employment placement outside ICC through the Labor Department.
Prosser, Minnich and ICC spokesman Edwin Crouch could not be reached for comment. A receptionist at ICC headquarters on St. Croix said all three were off island Thursday.

The shooting death of 18-year-old Jason Carroll on Tuesday afternoon has brought strong statements from community leaders.
Gov. Charles W. Turnbull, Delegate Donna Christian-Christensen, St. Thomas-St. John Chamber of Commerce president John deJongh Jr. and Attorney General Iver Stridiron promptly responded with condolences to the family of Carroll, who was fatally shot on Main Street in downtown Charlotte Amalie.
Carroll's parents are first Assistant U.S. Attorney James Carroll and his wife, Celia.
On Wednesday, Turnbull issued a statement saying "It is heartbreaking enough to suffer the loss of a loved one, but when the circumstances are such as these, when a fine young man facing a bright future is suddenly taken away in such a violent manner, it sends shock waves through the entire community."
The governor pledged that "this deplorable and senseless act of violence will not go unpunished," and he reminded the public that those providing information to police in connection with the investigation of a crime are assured confidentiality.
Christian-Christensen, who is a member of the House Juvenile Justice/Crime Prevention Task Force in Congress, expressed grave concern over the killing and other violent acts of recent weeks. She noted that just last month, she began working with the University of the Virgin Islands and Central State University in Ohio to bring a community-based anti-violence program to the territory.
"At this point, second to our economic woes," she said, violent crime "is the most important issue facing us — and threatens every other step forward we might be able to make."
The St. Thomas-St. John Chamber of Commerce called for unified community action to fight the continuing escalation of violent crimes in the territory, describing the matter as a community issue, not a tourism issue.
"We need to support and enhance law enforcement's effort to combat this epidemic of violence," deJongh said. "There is no need for more legislation or laws. Our territorial and federal laws are more than sufficient in punishing crime. In fact, unlike the states, which rely on federal laws in many instances to deal with violent crimes, our territorial laws are generally more severe than federal laws in dealing with criminals."
Stridiron, in his message of condolences, said the victim's father, "Jim Carroll, is not only a colleague in law enforcement, but a personal friend." He said the entire V.I. Justice Department "shares the grief of our friend and his family."
"It appears that we have young persons in this community who have little regard for themselves and no regard for the lives of others," Stridiron said. "This, unfortunately, is a situation which is not unlike a war."

Dear Source,
There is no such thing as "senseless shooting" or "senseless violence." Except for domestic violence whose reasons are so personal and obscure as to seem senseless to non-participants, all violence and shootings involve money from illegal activities and witness intimidation.
Such violence has diminished across America where prostitution, drug sales and other activities that are the causes of territorial battles for control of segments of the public spaces have been forced off the street.
Instead, in the Virgin Islands, we see officials in flagrant malfeasance of local and immigration law. We all see an increasing flaunting of such activity in many well-known areas.
It may be senseless to criminalize by legislation behavior we are prepared to accept in reality. The fact of criminalization creates high profits worth the while of some to shoot and kill.
Where stands the Legislature? The administration? The police? The churches? The Chamber of Commerce?
We must either enforce the law and clean the streets of prostitution and illegal drugs, or decriminalize these public activities. It is we collectively acting senselessly and these contradictions that stain our streets in blood.
Michael Paiewonsky
St. Thomas

The St. Thomas-St. John Chamber of Commerce has joined Sen. V. Anne Golden in strongly criticizing the V.I. Banking Board for placing conditions on its approval of V.I. Community Bank's acquisition of Chase Manhattan Bank's local assets.
In a release from the chamber, John P. deJongh Jr., chamber president, said, "The government is overstepping its bounds in dictating the composition of a board of directors of a private entity, irrespective of whether the granting of tax benefits are involved."
The banking board has stipulated as a condition of its approval government authorization of 30 percent of VICB’s directors. The regulatory board also imposed a $300,000 annual banking fee, which deJongh said amounted to "double taxation."
"Government agencies and commissioners must not continue to stifle private sector expansion and investment in our weak economy," deJongh said. "Decisions such as this directly contradict Governor Turnbull's recent remarks [about his intention]to foster and expand investment in the Virgin Islands economy."
In addition to serving as chamber president, deJongh chaired the Economic Recovery Task Force appointed by the governor to come up with a plan to deal with the territory's fiscal crisis. He was one of the primary architects of the five-year plan it submitted to the governor a month ago. The plan relies largely on developing the private sector in order to bail out the sinking Virgin Islands economy.
The chamber release called on the V.I. Banking Board to rescind its conditions on the annual fee and board composition.
For details on the conditions of the VIBB approval click here.

The construction of the Enighed Pond marine cargo facility on St. John could be delayed for years if the Port Authority and the Turnbull administration don’t agree on how to pay for the $16 million project.
Port Authority executive director Gordon Finch told VIPA board members Wednesday that the authority was ready to put up its half of the funding for the project. But he said he was recently told by administration officials that the government’s half would be a loan to VIPA, not a grant.
That news, Finch said, left him "exasperated" because he said he had been told by the administration that it was planning to use proceeds from the pending sale of the Water and Power Authority to fund its share of the project. The idea of a loan was never discussed, he said.
Finch implored board members not to go ahead with the project if the administration limits its contribution to a loan.
If the board chooses not to move ahead, he said, the project, which has been under discussion for years, will be delayed indefinitely.
"I’m asking the board, please don’t do it," he said. "The project will be delayed. Yes, we will do it ourselves — but when we have the financing… "It’s going to be a significant period of time, and I’m talking years."
However, Public Works Commissioner Harold Thompson Jr., who sits on the VIPA board, said he expected to use Federal Highway Administration funding to pay for the project. He suggested that the funding from the proposed WAPA sale was a back-up plan.
Thompson said the government receives $12 million a year in federal transportation money and is planning to use $4 million of it this fiscal year and $4 million more later for the project.
"As long as I’m commissioner of Public Works, I’ll do my level best to get the project funded," Thompson said. "The federal highway program is the best chance to move forward."
Meanwhile, the uncertainty of where the government funding would come from and what the terms would be spurred Finch to recommend to the board that it draft a letter to Gov. Charles W. Turnbull stating why a loan would be untenable. VIPA also wants assurances that federal funding is available to pay for the project before work begins.

The construction of the Enighed Pond marine cargo facility on St. John could be delayed for years if the Port Authority and the Turnbull administration don’t agree on how to pay for the $16 million project.
Port Authority executive director Gordon Finch told VIPA board members Wednesday that the authority was ready to put up its half of the funding for the project. But he said he was recently told by administration officials that the government’s half would be a loan to VIPA, not a grant.
That news, Finch said, left him "exasperated" because he said he had been told by the administration that it was planning to use proceeds from the pending sale of the Water and Power Authority to fund its share of the project. The idea of a loan was never discussed, he said.
Finch implored board members not to go ahead with the project if the administration limits its contribution to a loan.
If the board chooses not to move ahead, he said, the project, which has been under discussion for years, will be delayed indefinitely.
"I’m asking the board, please don’t do it," he said. "The project will be delayed. Yes, we will do it ourselves — but when we have the financing… "It’s going to be a significant period of time, and I’m talking years."
However, Public Works Commissioner Harold Thompson Jr., who sits on the VIPA board, said he expected to use Federal Highway Administration funding to pay for the project. He suggested that the funding from the proposed WAPA sale was a back-up plan.
Thompson said the government receives $12 million a year in federal transportation money and is planning to use $4 million of it this fiscal year and $4 million more later for the project.
"As long as I’m commissioner of Public Works, I’ll do my level best to get the project funded," Thompson said. "The federal highway program is the best chance to move forward."
Meanwhile, the uncertainty of where the government funding would come from and what the terms would be spurred Finch to recommend to the board that it draft a letter to Gov. Charles W. Turnbull stating why a loan would be untenable. VIPA also wants assurances that federal funding is available to pay for the project before work begins.